Chris Sutton sends blunt message about Celtic recruitment

If any Celtic fans were hoping to see the club repeat a treble, those are already over. Brendan Rodgers’ side were knocked out from the second round of the Scottish League Cup, as they lost 1-0 against Kilmarnock away at Rugby Park. It was a result that not many would have seen coming and yet, the signs have been there for a while.

Celtic have looked like a side that is lacking a spark at the moment. They have lost Jota, arguably their most creative player, and have not really replaced him.

At the back, they saw Carl Starfelt leave. But neither of the two centre-backs signed this summer has the experience that the Swede had or is proven at a top level.

Thus, Celtic fans are unsurprisingly questioning the club’s recruitment over the summer. They had shown more ambition in the 2020 window. Albian Ajeti had arrived for a transfer fee around £5 million from West Ham United. Vasilis Barkas was the Greek international goalkeeper. Shane Duffy was a Premier League-proven centre-back. Diego Laxalt arrived on loan from AC Milan.

Chris Sutton sends blunt message about Celtic recruitment

As reported by Football Scotland, Chris Sutton posed the question on Five Live:

"“What do Celtic fans think about that defeat? Was it coming? Celtic, have they done enough work quickly in the transfer market? I don’t believe they have, they have lost Jota, have injuries to key players.“Celtic lost Jota who was a key player for them last season and haven’t really replaced him. That centre-back partnership, I don’t think they lost a domestic game with Carter-Vickers and Starfelt. Carter-Vickers pulled a hamstring last week or has a hamstring injury, and Starfelt was sold to Celta Vigo.“You are thinking why are you letting a player of that ilk go when there are important games coming up at the start of the season? Out the League Cup, that’s a big blow for Brendan Rodgers. Should they have acted in the recruitment market and brought a bit more quality in? I think they should have done.”"

There are less than two weeks left in the summer transfer window. Celtic need to move quickly and bring in some solid reinforcements.

They have signed enough highly-rated youngsters over the course of the summer. And nobody is against that. It is about finding the right balance though. So, it is about time that they added some experienced and established players to the mix.

Otherwise, things are not looking good for Rodgers’ side. We are just two weeks into the season and this already looks like a team that has run out of ideas, not the well-oiled winning machine of the Ange Postecoglou era.