Callum McGregor underlines Celtic need for new players to bolster squad | OneFootball

Celtic captain Callum McGregor has stressed the players need help with new recruits to be competitive at home and abroad – and the situation was no different before their Champions League knockout blow.

The Scottish champions were consigned to the Europa League following a penalty shoot-out defeat by Kairat Almaty in Kazakhstan on Tuesday night.

The play-off loss has intensified criticism of the club’s board and chief executive Michael Nicholson over their recent transfer activity.

But there was no need for retrospective insight on MacGregor’s part as he reviewed events in Kazakhstan.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, the 32-year-old midfielder said: “It doesn’t change after (Tuesday night). Everyone has been quite vocal about what we need. We need help. We need players. We need a strong squad if we want to compete on all fronts.

“That doesn’t change. Maybe the financial situation might change but the players still need help.

“We still need bodies in the door and hopefully the club can do that.”

Celtic sold main goalscorer Kyogo Furuhashi in January without replacing him and winger Nicolas Kuhn followed him out of the door more than six weeks ago to compound the loss of wide player Jota to a serious knee injury.

But the only experienced addition to Brendan Rodgers’ attacking options this year has been Japanese striker Shin Yamada, who sat on the bench throughout the second leg.

The 25-year-old arrived in Glasgow on the back of netting just twice in 21 J-League matches for Kawasaki Frontale this year and is yet to find the net in four appearances in Scotland.

A goalless 210 minutes against a club sitting 315th in the UEFA rankings was clear evidence of the paucity of the top-class attacking options available to Rodgers with winger Yang Hyun-jun in particular struggling in Almaty.

Last season’s top goalscorer, Daizen Maeda, missed the best two chances of the tie as well as a penalty in the shoot-out and Rodgers and his players are certainly not escaping criticism from supporters.

Fans are also questioning the impact of two players who broke Celtic’s transfer record last season.

Irish striker Adam Idah was taken off at half-time in the first leg and was another to miss a spot-kick after coming off the bench in the second.

Belgium midfielder Arne Engels has been displaced in the team by Benjamin Nygren, one of two summer signings who featured in Kazakhstan along with Kieran Tierney, who is yet to manage 90 minutes as Rodgers eases the left-back back into regular action.

Substitute Engels’ set-piece delivery was mixed in Kazakhstan, although he did convert in the shoot-out.

But this year’s recruitment failure has come into sharper focus since the first leg, when Celtic fans chanted ‘Sack the board’ during the game, and McGregor was simply stating the obvious.

The captain might get some of his wishes granted in the coming days with  Antwerp winger Michel-Ange Balikwisha and Boca Juniors left-back Marcelo Saracchi expected to complete transfers.

But that would be too little, too late for the overwhelming majority of Celtic fans, whose anger would snowball if they were on the end of Rangers’ first William Hill Premiership victory of the season at Ibrox on Sunday.