For those Celtic fans still eagerly trawling social media sites for hints and clues about the possibility of further signings, there was some good news yesterday afternoon as Brendan Rodgers reaffirmed that he would still like to make a few new additions before the end of the current window.

It is not, however, looking as though the much coveted centre-half will arrive before the end of the month.

With Dedryck Boyata and Filip Benkovic committed to the club until the end of the season when Boyata will be allowed to walk away from the club for nothing and Benkovic will return to parent side Leicester City, there was an expectation that a central defender would have been a significant wish this month.

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Rodgers, though, appeared to be fairly relaxed about the situation as he reflected on the fact that a player of the quality that he would ideally like to add to the squad is a difficult find in the middle of a current season.

“I think that will be very difficult to do that this month,” admitted Rodgers. “To be brutally honest, if we were to bring in someone of the quality we require they would want to play. There are positions we’ll look at but that is one where a couple of our key players will move on and will need to be replaced.

“Obviously, we have young Kris Ajer and Jozo Simunovic already here. It’s an area of the team we will find it tough to strengthen in January but it’s a must to do that in the summer.

“It’s a possibility that we will spend more in the next couple of weeks. We’ve brought in a couple of loans and a young boy with potential. I’m not sure – it’s down to availability and also to what’s affordable from the club’s perspective.

“But I think we’ll look to add to our squad. There are also a few lads we’ll be sending out on loan but there are still key areas we’ve been looking to strengthen over a period of time.

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“We hope to do some more business if we can but there’s nothing to add to the speculation. Ya Ya Toure? Well, his brother’s here but he’s not one we’re looking at.

“Scott McTominay is a talented young player but there’s nothing to add to that and the same goes for James McCarthy. Agents will strategically throw out a name to stick in the papers but then I’ll get a call from them asking me if I’m interested in the player because they read that I was; you know the game.”

Timothy Weah could be handed a starting jersey for Saturday evening’s Scottish Cup tie against Airdrie with Odsonne Edouard still toiling for full fitness. With Leigh Griffiths’ treatment still ongoing and the player not back in the fold at the club, it means that the onus for taking the forward role will wither be given to new arrival Weah or to Mikey Johnstone who deputised in there already last month.

The expectancy is that it will be Weah, with Rodgers confirming that the new faces are set to be on show on Saturday.

“Both Timothy and Oliver will be in the squad,” said Rodgers. “Oliver has been training and playing away because there is no winter break down south and Timothy has also looked good. [Vakoun Issouf] Bayo isn’t in the country yet. He is still sorting out all of the paperwork and, hopefully, will be with us by the weekend.”

Of more concern will be Kieran Tierney’s ongoing absence.

The full-back missed the run-in to the mid-season break with a hip complaint and is expected to remain sidelined for at least the next few weeks. Tierney was in Dubai with the rest of the first-team squad last week but did not take part in full training, but rather went through his paces with the medics.

With the Europa League game against La Liga side Valencia looming next month, Celtic would be frustrated to lose the influential Scotland internationalist for much longer.

“He’s not fit,” said Rodgers. “He’s still with the medical team and hopefully over the next few weeks we will see where we are at. There’s no timescale, no. Will he need an op? I’ve not been advised of that yet by the medics. We will wait and see but the pain is less than it was.

“The Valencia game is too far ahead to say. We’ll just have to see over the next few weeks.”

And Rodgers will not look to trim his squad before the window closes with a number of players expected to head for the exit door. The Celtic manager, though, has urged them to follow the example of Ryan Christie and look to go and develop themselves before proving they can then cope with the demands of the Celtic first-team.

“There are different types of loans,” said Rodgers. “There are players who will go out because they don’t have a future at the club and he needs to create a market for himself to go and get a move. There is a development loan, the likes of Ryan where you think they need games in their legs so they need to play and go out and if they improve and develop then it gives them a chance, as we have seen. Kristoffer Ajer went out for a year and worked on what he had to improve on, came back into the squad and has played a lot of games.

“Ryan is the same. He had 18 months out which worked really well for him and when he came back he has taken his chance which is a great credit to him. It is a lesson to all young players. You might be on the periphery but you need to get games into your legs and sometimes that means going out for six months and play.

“Ultimately the responsibility will be with them if they can go out and perform, do well then Ryan is the shining light in that it can work for you.”