Celtic are coming off a defeat at the hands of Hibernian away at Easter Road but overall, it was a positive week for the club. Firstly, the Rangers also lost, meaning that the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership table remained the same. Secondly, the Hoops had their thrilling performance against Bayern Munich to look back upon.
Celtic took Bayern Munich to their absolute limit, something that not many would have expected when the tie was announced. In fact, the Bavarian side had to depend on a late goal from Alphonso Davies to salvage a draw at Allianz Arena and make it to the next round on a narrow 3-2 aggregate win.
It is nice to look back and appreciate the performance. At the same time, the focus has to be on the future and making sure that this does not end up becoming a one-off run in the Champions League.
Celtic cannot and should not go back to square one next season. The aim has to be constant progress at this level.
Celtic tipped to sign £12 million players at minimum
Celtic need to make some big signings in order to ensure that that progress takes place. As reported by Glasgow World, Kris Commons told PLZ:
"You want to go and identify players that are between six and ten million pounds that could potentially be worth 20-30 million. I think obviously next season there'll be a few more people that will be invested into the squad. if you're looking for investment quality, you're looking to take it to that next step or at least give you a chance for that next step, then you'll be looking at players in the bracket of 10, 11, 12 million at minimum."
Celtic did push the boat out a bit last summer. They brought in Arne Engles from FC Augsburg for a club-record fee. If add-ons are met, Adam Idah will become the second-most expensive signing in the Hoops' history as well, going past Odsonne Edouard.
That being said, the winter transfer window was a major disappointment. One has to wonder if Celtic would have gone past Bayern Munich if they had strengthened the squad rather than waiting for the summer. Hopefully, there will be no disappointments before the start of the next campaign.