BRENDAN RODGERS believes he won’t lose a single player before the summer’s crucial Champions League qualifiers and is confident he will add to his squad before the first game in July.

The Celtic manager on Friday signed a four-year deal and would surely not have done so had he not been given certain assurances from the board about his transfer budget for the next window.

Rodgers has actually not spent what he could have during his ten months at Celtic, Scott Sinclair’s £3.5million deal being his biggest spend, and with this season’s Champions League money available, the Northern Irishman is in a strong position regarding who is sold and bought on his watch.

Read more: I'll never put Celtic at risk but I still want the best players we can get, says Brendan Rodgers

Asked if he was confident the key players would still be at the club when the qualifiers begin, Rodgers said: “Yes. I would like to think going into the qualifiers we’ll be a stronger squad. We’ll retain the ones we have and then, touch wood, be able to make the additions we want.

“I think there is a real happiness in the group because of how they’re being asked to play and how we work. I think they see the benefits of it. And our goals are beyond this season.

“So arriving into the qualifiers, hopefully we’ll be in as good place. We’ll certainly be in a much better place than we were last year. It doesn’t make it any less anxious. Goodness me, but at least we’ll be much better prepared for it.”

Top of Rodgers’s list is another striker, Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths are his only two senior players in that position, and there is possibly a conversation to have about Patrick Roberts staying for one more season.

“A manager will always tell you three when asked how many they want to sign,” said Rodgers. “But it really is a limited amount. The players I’d like to bring in could make a real impact and help the boys here - game-changing players.

Read more: Stuart Armstrong last season expected to be subbed after an hour - now he's one of Celtic's best players

“I look at the needs of the squad and try and project the developments of players here. I’m preparing for another 60-game season. So I need a good squad, one that’s tight and that’s spirit is good.

“Listen, some will move on naturally. Their cycle will finish here because they might not get the game-time they want. Some might want to go on and try something else. That’s natural. But the number of players I think can help us develop and improve is minimal. There won’t be wholesale changes.”

There will likely be a clamour among some supporters for a so-called marquee signing to be made given that Rodgers does have decent money to spend. However, for the manager there are more important things than a famous name.

“I don’t think of it like that. I wouldn’t ever just sign a name for the sake of it,” he said. “I want a good player. I want a player – however old he is – who wants to still improve, who wants to work hard, who has a humility and who wants to come in and win.

“If that’s a blue chip player, great. If it’s not then he won’t be any good here, he won’t be any good.

“Blue chip is Celtic, that’s the profile. This is the club and the players who come in come in to work for the club. So it has to be the right type of player.

Read more: I'll never put Celtic at risk but I still want the best players we can get, says Brendan Rodgers

“But my game and the way I always ask the team to play means it’s always going to be a dynamic and exciting and aggressive team. Players who come in have to have that.

“Look at Scott Sinclair, for example. Okay, people knew him but they didn’t really know his quality. You look at him now and he’s one of the most exciting talents. If he keeps going he could be in an England squad.”

Rodgers already knows how much he has to spend and has had several players scouted in recent months.

“I’ve had those (budget) conversations,” he said. “We know exactly where we are with all of that. There will always be a ceiling, I respect that. It’s not an open chequebook but I feel the board will always do everything they possibly can to get the right types of players in that we want.

“But it’s always based around affordability. Ultimately you need to know who is available and then you can make your case from there.”