Postecoglou: Celtic are very close to adding new recruits

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou believes the club is closing in on the signing of several players and will add the new recruits he needs before the closing of the transfer window.

The Parkhead side have made a number of signings this summer, including defender Carl Starfelt, goalkeeper Joe Hart and forward Kyogo Furuhashi but are still short in some areas of the squad.

Postecoglou says work is being done to bring in new faces and that he is “very confident” that they will arrive before the transfer window closes at the end of the month, saying that some are close to being concluded.

“I don’t have a number [of additions I want to make], we just need players,” the Australian said. “I’ve said that consistently from the start and I’ve also said that we’re working hard. It’s not an easy market to get things done.

“I can at least now confidently give a deadline because the deadline is coming up. I’m very confident we’ll have players in before the transfer deadline. It’s just a matter of timing and getting things done. It’s not as straightforward as it used to be.

“We are very close to a few deals, I think. We just need to keep doing what we are doing, stay focused and disciplined, and make sure we get the right players in.

“Once we do, it will help us enormously because we are putting a big workload on a core group of players at the moment.”

Postecoglou didn’t dismiss links with right full-back Josip Juranovic but said that Celtic had been looking at multiple targets for each key position.

He said: “It’s definitely an area we need to strengthen and it’s an area we are targeting and I’m hoping for us to add to, but to nail it down to one person, that’s not how it’s been working.”We are working on multiple targets in each position because, the way the market is at the moment, there’s no guarantee you’ll get anyone over the line.

“That’s probably why I have been linked with so many people but in terms of deals done, nothing is done yet.”

Looking ahead to Wednesday’s Europa League play-off first leg against AZ Alkmaar, Postecoglou said that he expected the Dutch side to be “energetic opposition”. Having seen his side beat Hearts 3-2 at the weekend following a 6-0 win against Dundee and a 7-2 aggregate win over Jablonec, the manager said he wanted the same type of performance and that if the team played in the right manner, then there was a good chance of victory in any game.

“There’s a game model there that we really want to keep refining and improving,” he said. “That game model was in evidence in the first 60 minutes [against Hearts] of high-intensity, high-tempo, attacking aggressive both with and without the ball.

“If we can have those parameters around every game we play then it doesn’t guarantee you’re going to win but it does guarantee that you’ll give yourself a chance of dominating and winning a game.”