Will Celtic be able to reinvent once again?

By David Lee Wheatley

Fearful summer in store for Celts

Celtic go into today's game at home to Hibs 13 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League, following on from their promising run to the last-16 stage of the Champions League.

All would appear rosy in the garden for the Scottish champions-elect, but this summer they face a gruelling test of the club's ability to hold on to star players while knowing deep down that some will leave Celtic Park for pastures new.

The names that are linked with big transfers away from Glasgow include imposing goalkeeper Fraser Forster, versatile midfielder Victor Wanyama and scoring sensation Gary Hooper. There's no doubting the huge void their departures would create in the spine of the Hoops' team, but the value on each of their heads would give manager Neil Lennon a handy kitty with which to replenish the squad.

Forster, Wanyama and Hooper could be expected to fetch in the region of £30-£35m altogether and Lennon would certainly hope the board would provide him with a large chunk of that to reinvest. It would be a blow to the club to lose such established stars, but it seems inevitable that at least 2 out of 3 will move on.

It's hard to say with conviction how much Celtic have been affected by the loss of competition from local rivals Rangers with their demotion to Division Three, but Lennon and the Celtic board members must guard against complacency when choosing new recruits.

Taking it for granted that they'll forever lord it over every other team in Scotland could lead to a backward step being taken both in domestic and European competition.

If Celtic wish to make it through to the knockout stages of the Champions League as they did this season, they must find quality footballers to come in and boost a squad that already requires bolstering without the loss of any of the current playing staff.

Celtic's scouting network should be working overtime right now in a bid to find the next Hooper or Wanyama and the club must be relentless in their pursuit of such targets.

Neil Lennon has previously shown himself to be a shrewd man in the transfer market since assuming the role of manager at Celtic Park and he'll need to use all of his skills this summer to help the Celts to improve upon this highly successful campaign.

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