The window is wide open... and Celtic require serious investment in serious players for the new season

There is at least one question pertaining to Celtic’s forthcoming campaign to which we already know the answer.

The perennial debate about whether the team have the requisite quality to play in Europe after Christmas is now redundant due to UEFA reconfiguring the Champions League.

With the new format seeing each team play eight matches, two of which are in January, Celtic’s involvement after the festive season is nailed on. It will be what happens thereafter that will hold up a mirror to the club’s transfer dealings this summer.

While finishing in the top eight of the 36-team group (thereby bypassing the preliminary knockout round) will be a tall order, a reasonable expectation would be that the Scottish champions could prolong their interest by finishing somewhere between ninth and 24th.

Notwithstanding the fact that the latter stages of the tournament have increasingly become a no-go area for all but Europe’s elite in recent times, Celtic’s inability to make deep inroads in any continental competition for two decades has been a source of considerable disquiet among the fanbase.

You need to go all the way back to 2004, to a famous two-legged triumph against Barcelona in the UEFA Cup, to find the last time the Parkhead club won a European knockout tie after Christmas.

They have gorged on domestic success in the interim — winning 16 titles from 21 — and enjoyed some famous nights in qualifying and the group stage. But they’ve seriously punched below their weight at the business end.

While ensuring the club remain top dogs in Scotland was the main remit for Brendan Rodgers when he returned to the club, the ambitions of all concerned — presumably — lie in doing something serious again in Europe. That’s going to require some serious investment on some serious footballers. An abrupt departure from the way the club went about their business last year, in other words.

They can’t continue to fire a fusillade of shots and hope that some hit the target. They need to pick their targets and prioritise quality over quantity.

Complaining about inflated wages in bigger leagues making deals difficult to get over the line just isn’t going to wash any more. No one in their right mind expects them to win the Champions League but they have to give themselves a chance of competing.

Celtic signed nine players last summer. Of the seven permanent signings, Kwon Hyeok-kyu, at £1million was the cheapest, with the £4.3m paid to Legia Warsaw for Maik Nawrocki the most expensive.

In between, you had the likes of Odin Thiago Holm at £2.5m, Marco Tilio at £1.5m, Yang Hyun-jun at £2.1m.

Celtic will point to the £1.5m they spent on Matt O’Riley as evidence that top talents are still undervalued, and that’s true.

But cases like O’Riley — now a £20m-plus target for Southampton — are very much the exception rather than the rule.

There’s nothing wrong with having an occasional rummage in the bargain bin. But you normally must look elsewhere for players of pedigree.

Celtic already knew what they were getting when they spent £6m to make Jota’s deal from Benfica permanent.

Cameron Carter-Vickers also came in from Spurs needing to impress for Celtic to make the player their property. Another £6m outlay was a snip.

And while that price bracket offers no guarantee that a player will be a success, the irrefutable evidence is that they are much less likely to flop than players who arrive for a third of the price.

This, in essence, was what Rodgers was referring to when he implored the club to be ‘braver’ in the transfer market.

The signing of a replacement for Joe Hart is non-negotiable. It seems that not a day passes without another goalkeeper being linked — whether that be Caoimhin Kelleher, Martin Dubravka or Dominik Livakovic.

No one will need reminding of how badly they got this one wrong when Vasilis Barkas arrived four years ago. Hart’s signing amply demonstrated that not every good deal has to involve a sell-on fee.

As for the defenders, injury hampered Nawrocki in his first season in Glasgow. Yet it remains to be seen if the Pole has the trust of Rodgers.

The manager is certainly an admirer of Liam Scales and handed the player a deal until 2028 on the back of his breakthrough season.

You suspect, though, that he will still look to bring in another left-sided player to slot in beside Carter-Vickers.

With Alexandro Bernabei on loan at Internacional in Brazil for the rest of the year, Rodgers will need another left-back to cover and challenge Greg Taylor.

With Holm and Kwon having faded from view, an additional screening defender capable of taking the burden off Callum McGregor would be top of the list.

A permanent deal for Paulo Bernardo would be comparatively risk free. With O’Riley likely to be sold for big money, the Benfica midfielder would be afforded more opportunities in the supporting role beside Reo Hatate.

Rodgers also needs significant upgrades on the flanks. It said much about the impacts of Yang and Tilio that James Forrest was asked to ride to the rescue last term.

Luis Palma is still too erratic. Nicolas Kuhn hasn’t shown enough. The same applies to Mikey Johnston, who’s back in town after a decent loan spell at West Brom.

Talk of Kyogo Furuhashi returning to Japan has gone quiet. Adam Idah turned perceptions of him upside down by netting numerous season-defining goals among the nine he managed after joining on loan from Norwich.

It will take a fair bundle of cash for the Canaries to sell the Irishman but Celtic, with £40m Champions League money in the pipeline, are scarcely contemplating penury.

They have never been in such an enviable financial position. If they want to kick on and a make an appreciable impact in Europe, they can. It would certainly be long overdue.