The general consensus is that Celtic went into their opening match of the season with an incomplete squad.
With Nicolas Kuhn having moved to Como this summer, Brendan Rodgers has very little to work with in attacking areas, especially considering that Kyogo Furuhashi is still yet to be replaced.
Sunday’s encounter, which the champions won 1-0 thanks to Luke McCowan’s late winner, saw Celtic struggle to rediscover the goalscoring form which broke records last season.
The premature substitution of Kieran Tierney also highlighted gaps in the backline, as Liam Scales finished the match filling in at left-back.
Someone who knows what it’s like to fill in at left-back and various other positions in the hoops is Charlie Mulgrew, who offered his take on the squad situation after the match.
Charlie Mulgrew thinks Celtic need to sign two wingers in the summer transfer window
Despite being linked with moves away in order to see more playing time, Yang Hyun-Jun started the game on the right wing before being replaced by James Forrest.
The need for Daizen Maeda to play on the left meant that Adam Idah was up top, and the Irishman couldn’t find the net despite having a number of chances.
For Mulgrew, this is where the Scottish champions need more options. With a number of wingers such as Michel-Ange Balikwisha linked with moves to Celtic this summer, the former Hoops vice-captain feels that more than one is required.
Speaking on BBC Sportscene, he said: “I don’t think there’s any doubt about it. Today highlights the fact that they need a striker, and they need two wingers at least – because then you can move Maeda up with or instead of Idah, then you have options up there.
“They definitely need wingers that can impact the game. James Forrest came on today and impacted the game, but he’s not going to play 50, 60 games a season.
“Jota’s injured and he’s not going to be back until next year, so you need wingers who are going to have goal contributions. Brendan Rodgers has said in the past that he likes wingers who can score goals.”
The weeks left in the window are ticking down, though, and the Celtic board will need to back their boss by landing several key targets.
McCowan saves the day for Brendan Rodgers and the Celtic board
Had it not been for McCowan’s late winner, the volume of transfer discourse around the club would have cranked up a notch.
Patience is running out among Hoops fans as eyes turn towards the board again, with the club’s strong financial position no secret.
With the season now underway and less than a month of the window remaining, Brendan Rodgers will be hoping that his squad will look very different by September, though Rodgers himself admitted that he was “fed up” of discussing transfers after the match.
Internally, his attitude will be very different, with a Champions League qualifier and a first knockout round tie in the Premier Sports Cup approaching.