Celtic Manager Brendan Rodgers admits that the club “still has to do work on the market”, but is “hopeful” to which the team can be added this week.
The Scottish champions have made six summer signing sessions, but half of them have had free transfers, and there are still questions about whether the board has supported this window sufficiently.
Celtic starts their Scottish Premiership title defense at home against St Mirren on Sunday -Live on Sky Sports -and concludes a loan agreement for Manchester City Center -back Jahmai Simpson -Pusey.
“We still have work to do on the market, but I am really enthusiastic,” Rodgers told Sky Sports News.
“The focus is really on the players who are here, and they have worked very well and hopefully we will be a stronger team for the end of the transfer window towards the end of the month.
“We hope that there might be something new this week (transfers), but I think coaches in the transfer market are not moving at the same pace
“A coach always wants a player immediately, but the transfer market doesn't always work that way.
“You want your team together as quickly as possible if you can, so that you can get some good job, get the together, get the mind, get everything shaped. But of course we know that it can be a challenge traditionally.
“A coach will always want the players to be in it. I think it is arithmetic; it is purely counting.
“We have lost players and we want to replace those players with quality. So it is not an opinion, it is where it is. We have lost important players and we want to replace them as quickly as possible to keep developing.”
Is Celtic stronger or weaker than last season?
Celtic quickly started the window when they announced the return of Academy -graduated Kieran Tierney at the end of his contract with Arsenal, but they still have to replace some remarkable departure.
Winger Nicolas Kuhn left for Como earlier this month, and some supporters want more offensive options after Talisman Kyogo Furuhashi had left in January, while Jota is expected to miss a big enchantment of this campaign due to injury.
“Listen, for me the focus is very much on what is here,” Rodgers added, when he was asked if his team is stronger or weaker.
“We know we are doing work and I hope we can do that at the end of the window.
“But in the meantime, as I said, the players worked fantastic in the course of this preseason.
“Some really good versions and [we’ve] Grown and developed in our mind, which will be really important to us. “
Celtic V St Mirren
Celtic will raise the competition flag for the same team that they have lifted the Scottish Premiership trophy in May, with the match against St Mirren Live on Sky Sports on Sunday.
“Flag Day represents an opportunity with which you can reflect on the season that has passed, in which we were champions and played very well,” Rodgers added.
“But it is also a memory of what awaits us, a lot of hard work and that hard work will start with St. Mirren.
“Stephen (Robinson) has had an excellent record at St Mirren for the past three seasons and leads them to European football. He is a very good coach, so he has organized his team very well and before the game.
“But for us it's our first home game and we really want to start how we should continue.”