Ronny Deila insists Celtic are already good enough for Europe’s elite

Ronny Deila doesn’t expect any of his summer signings to dislodge the current Celtic first-teamers.

But the Parkhead boss is very comfortable about that and has every confidence that the men who have just secured the SPFL Premiership will also emerge successful from the Champions League qualifiers.

The Hoops will make in excess of £17-million if they reach UEFA’S premier club competition, but Deila doesn’t anticipate that to mean he will be able to splash the cash on a top player.

“I trust all my players. The team has developed and this group can take us into the Champions League,” said Deila.

“It is possible. Maybe we can add one or two players but, remember, players sometimes need time to get into the team.

“So we will keep working with the players we have, and try to develop them further. They have improved and there is more improvement to come.

“I talk about this kind of thing with Peter Lawwell all the time. We have the same goals.

“We have to find players in our salary bracket. If they have potential, we can develop that and sell them for more money.

“We have money to spend, but we will not spend a lot of money on players we won’t get benefit from in the future. They have to be a special player.

“We are looking at options, including strikers. Strikers are the hardest position to fill because every club is looking for them.

“You never know if it’s the right one or not. We also know that we can’t sign a player who is already at a certain level.

“We are looking in England but players have to take cuts in the salary to come here.

“The money there now is totally crazy, so it’s a tough market to go to. Celtic have made good signings there before and they know British football. It’s easy to adapt.

“There will also be young players who want to get their name onto a big stage and play for trophies with a big club with unbelievable fans.”

One player who could be on his way out is Stefan Scepovic, the £2-million Serbia striker.

Deila said: “Stefan is a project we have had to work on. But in the end if people are not improving, then maybe I am doing something wrong or maybe he is doing something wrong.”