Brendan Rodgers says Celtic will be ready to move for a left-back this summer, depending on how Hayato Inamura progresses.
The Japanese left-back, who was initially brought in not to be part of the first team, has impressed as much in pre-season that boss Rodgers has been forced into a rethink.
Inamura started in Celtic's 2-1 win over Cork City on Tuesday evening and played the second half as they lost 3-2 to Estrela de Amadora on Saturday.
"The pre-season is always to assess," said Rodgers, as quoted by RecordSport. "We know the model here at the club is always to improve them.
Read more:
-
Brendan Rodgers outlines immediate Celtic transfer priority after Estrela loss
-
Brendan Rodgers upbeat with reaction to Celtic's defeat vs Estrela in Portugal
"Sometimes that means they come in and you assess and look, and look to see what's right for the development of them and the team.
"That's what I'm about, getting a collection of individual players that I can see development and improvement in.
"If they are going to be close to the first-team, they'll stay and do that. If not, we may feel they need to go out.
"Ina's that example. I just wanted to get the chance to see him and we'll continue to do that.
"But we know in the background that if we need to move on that position, that's something that we will be ready to do."
Celtic are next in action on Wednesday when they take on Sporting CP.
