Brendan Rodgers insists Celtic will continue to look towards Scottish talent with their recruitment.
The Northern Irishman has always had a homegrown core in his Hoops squad and currently has the likes of captain Callum McGregor, the decorated James Forrest, Anthony Ralston and Greg Taylor. Luke McCowan was added to it last year when signed from Dundee and Kieran Tierney will boost it further in the summer.
Rodgers is always keen to try and promote young players from the academy where possible, but admits that's difficult at a club with the standards of Celtic.
So the other avenue to ensuring a strong tartan element within the dressing room is shopping around the league to recruit those good enough to reach that level.
Asked if he will continue to go Scottish in the transfer market, Rodgers said: "I think it's two-fold. You always look from within to see if there's players from your academy that can make the step up. It's been very difficult in recent times just because of he level the team has been at.
"But there is 100 per cent a pathway here for a young player if there's a bit of patience.
"That's your first look, second look is outside. I've loved working with Scottish players during my time here. Going back to my first time I had Ryan (Christie), Stu (Armstrong) and all the guys. Absolutely brilliant they were for me.
"So that's what we do. We look homegrown to see 'is there anyone who can improve our squad, or a young player that come in and has that potential to be a starter here?'
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"It's always something we cover in our recruitment here."
Celtic will always look around the globe for signings, evidenced by the £11m move for Arne Engels last summer and Japanese internationals Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate being key men, among other foreign nationals.
But Rodgers can't stress enough the importance of having that Scottish core.
"I think it's very important," he insisted. "I think whatever league you're in - if you were in Spain having a Spanish core would be important, Italy an Italian core. For me, it's absolutely key.
"So the boys that have come through Celtic here, they understand what the club is about. A lot of them have been here since young guys and they've been brought up on the values of Celtic.
"Guys like Tony are really pivotal to the culture of the club. He doesn't play every week but is one of our most important players because of his history at the club
"But guys like Greg Taylor too, the other Scottish boys and not just the guys that have come through here. Scott Bain doesn't play hardly ever, but he's been a real leader behind the scenes.
"But 100 per cent, the Scottish core is key to our success."
