Former Celtic captain Paul Lambert has warned the club they won't get away with having a limited squad once again this season, issuing a stark transfer verdict.
Martin O'Neill's side retained the title last term, but Lambert has concerns about recruitment and the current playing crop going into 2026/27.
"If you don't spend, you stand still. That's always the key. You have to improve," he told the BBC.
"Listen, I've seen Celtic – they're nowhere near good enough at this moment in time, nowhere near it. "I think everybody recognises it and knows it.
"You get [Daizen] Maeda, who turned up for about six games last season, so that's not enough over a season, it's not enough.
"You need people to do it consistently over the course of a season. Because they want a move, you get six or seven games out of them at the end of the season – it doesn't work, you have to get guys that do it over a long period of time."
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Asked if Celtic are good enough to compete once more for the Scottish Premiership title, Lambert continued, "Not with the squad they've got.
"The problem they've got at the minute is, the squad was very limited last season – they won't get away with that again. The manager knows it... They need ready-made players. And the infrastructure has got to be so important for them to do that.
"But they need ready-made players that know how to win football matches because you won't get away with it, not this time.
"The squad's not strong enough, you can see that."
