SO FAR, so quiet ... the serene surrounds of Lennoxtown will be punctured by the noise of Celtic’s first-team squad, minus those who ended the season with an international jaunt, returning to break in the new boots and blow away the holiday cobwebs this week.

And it is expected that the calm front of the summer transfer window will start to prove far noisier in the next few weeks.

While the calls and inquiries have been taking place behind the scenes throughout the break, it is anticipated that things will start to heat up as the clock begins to tick.

Celtic will watch with interest this afternoon as the draw is made for the opening qualifiers of the Uefa Champions League.

The Parkhead club are introduced to the tournament midway through July and Ronny Deila will look to have supplemented his squad with more than just defender Dedryck Boyata, who is the only new addition so far.

However, while former Celt Frank McGarvey is optimistic that at least one other striker will be added to the mix before the season gets underway, he believes that the signing of Dundee United pair Gary-Mackay Steven and Stuart Armstrong could underpin Celtic’s European adventure this term.

“I was really impressed with the two lads in the second part of the season and I thought it was a clever move to bring them in during the January transfer window,” said McGarvey.

“To me they could be big players in Europe this season. They came in and bedded into the team immediately and I’d go so far as to say that had they been in there a few weeks longer, then Celtic might have got past Inter Milan in that Europa League tie.

“I thought their contribution to the team in the second half of the season was first-class. They are two young lads with a point to prove and they look hungry every time they walk on to the pitch.”

While the former striker would like to see another forward brought into the club, he believes that Leigh Griffiths can still nail down the main forward’s role.

Griffiths had an impressive second half to last season after making the necessary changes that were asked of him by Deila, and such was his form that he earned himself a recall into Gordon Strachan’s Scotland squad.

With Deila publicly acknowledging that he would like at least one more forward brought into the squad, the pressure will be on Griffiths to maintain that level of performance.

“I think he is a player,” said McGarvey. “I like him. I think he is a good forward and he showed that in the last few months of the season.

“But I still think that he has to prove that he is prepared to concentrate on his football and make that his full focus. He seems to have knuckled down and taken heed of what he has been asked to do, but he must keep that going.

“At a club like Celtic, there is always the danger that if you fall out of the team then you might not get back in.”

It is for that reason McGarvey would like to have further new faces introduced to the squad before the end of August.

Celtic have enjoyed a successful business strategy of bringing in young, unknown players before then selling them on at a considerable profit. Gary Hooper, Fraser Forster and Victor Wanyama all fit that mould, but McGarvey would like to see some continuity as Deila tries to build a team.

“When Neil Lennon took the club into the last 16 of the Champions League, the bulk of that team then went at the end of the season, and it is very hard to keep going forward if you have to go and rebuild a side.

“I’d like to see everyone stay and a few more come in. That might be hard if you have a player like Virgil van Dijk, who is determined to go, but for the rest, let the manager build on what was a solid first season.

“If he can bring in another striker and one or two others, then you create a situation where players can see that they cannot afford one bad game, otherwise you’re out and someone else is in.

“When I went down to Liverpool, that is the way it was. Everyone knew that the entire second team could walk into the first team and all it took was a couple of bad days and you were out.

“That competition can keep you on your toes. It brings out the best in players because they know that they can’t afford not to be going full pelt in training, in the gym and in games, otherwise they could be out.”