Having conquered Scottish football in a ridiculously dominant manner last season, Brendan Rodgers is looking to take the next step in his Celtic project and turn them into a side capable of competing with the elite teams in the UEFA Champions League.

That’s no easy task given the difference in budgets between the Hoops and almost every other side in the competition but, as every Celtic fan knows, on their night they can give anyone on the continent a good game.

For Rodgers it’s about striking a balance between retaining the core of his team but having enough resources, both in terms of transfer fees and wages, to add quality in key areas of the team.

Almost all of his squad have been utilised expertly this season. There aren’t many you would have considered to have a bad season. Nonetheless we reckon there are players in his first team that the club could realise the value of and use that income to fund moves for Rodgers’ top targets.

These are the three Celtic stars we reckon the Hoops should consider selling…

Nir Bitton

Since joining Celtic in 2013, Nir Bitton has had an up and down time at Celtic. Going through spells where he looks every bit ‘The Answer’ in the middle of the park for the Hoops, in equal measure he’s shown serious inconsistency and at times a real lack of heart or desire to impact matches.

Initially a trusted member of Brendan Rodgers’ midfield, the Israeli didn’t see as much playing time in the second half of the season, his influence in the middle of the park petering out.

He became overshadowed by the likes of Callum McGregor and Stuart Armstrong, players who simply offered more in terms of shifting the play from midfield into the final third.

Undoubtedly an accomplished passer of the ball with the ability to dictate the tempo of a match, he just has never quite looked comfortable as a first choice pick in the Celtic midfield.

He would be well suited to other continental leagues and given his experience and pedigree could still fetch a decent transfer fee for the Hoops.

Celtic need a more physical spoiler in the heart of the pitch, especially in Europe, and moving Bitton and diverting those resources into attracting a player like that could be a big step forward for this team.

Erik Sviatchenko

Starting off the season as arguably the club’s first choice centre-back, Erik Sviatchenko ended the season undoubtedly in third position in that area behind Jozo Simunovic and Dedryck Boyata.

He only joined Celtic last January and for the first 12 months looked a very accomplished player. In recent months though he’s struggled to rise to the challenge from the likes of Boyata and Simunovic, two players who seem to relish the competition for first team spots at the club.

While Simunovic is a popular figure with supporters who they are eager to see compete in Europe next season, there are still question marks over Boyata’s and Sviatchenko’s ability to play at the highest level.

Most fans would like to see another centre-back come in, a real top pick who can immediately become a partner for Simunovic and if that happens then it all suddenly becomes a bit crowded at the back.

We reckon Boyata still has plenty of improving to do but his ceiling is arguably higher than the Danish internationals and moving Sviatchenko on, perhaps to a lower league English Premier League club or an English Championship contender, would be the best thing for all parties.

Moussa Dembele

Right, OK… bear with us here Celtic fans. We understand the quality Moussa Dembele has, we understand the potential he has and we also understand how much you love him. However, moving the young Frenchman on this summer could be transformative for the club in terms of their transfer ambitions.

Celtic have operated a policy for years of bringing in young talent and them selling them at their peak value and for us Moussa Dembele is at his peak value in terms of exposure, hype and likelihood of clubs willing to come in and spend big on him.

There are no guarantees in football and no-one knows how next season will pan out for the striker. Cashing in on a mega-money transfer deal this summer would allow the club to take control of the situation and receive a fee unlike anything else ever seen in Scottish football.

It could bring the Hoops to the next level in potential transfer targets and kick-off a whole new cycle of exceptional recruitment.

No player is bigger than the club and by realising his value now and cashing in, there are absolutely no downsides for Celtic if they continue to sign well in his absence.

Liverpool fans have given mixed reactions to the news that Southampton reportedly want £70m for Virgil van Dijk.

The Reds’ pursuit of the Dutchman seemed to be dead in the water a few weeks ago when the club issued a public apology to Southampton after being accused of tapping up Van Dijk.

However, The Express reports that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp remains keen on signing the defender, but the Saints are standing firm on a £70m price tag.

The future of Van Dijk seems to change by the day, as it was only last week when Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio claimed that Chelsea were closing in on a £60m deal.

The majority of Liverpool’s problems last season centred around the defence, and it is apparent that the majority of fans are desperate for the club to strengthen that area.

Some took to Twitter to urge the Merseyside outfit to pay the hefty fee for Van Dijk, while others feel that the price is too high.

In an era where money is almost literally no object to Premier League football clubs in the transfer market, Arsenal’s summer seems to hang quite dramatically on whether a top class player leaves, not whether one arrives.

Arsene Wenger finds himself in a strikingly similar position to the summer of 2012, when Robin van Persie, with one year left on his contract, pined for a move to Manchester to help United wrest back the Premier League title after a year of stagnation.

This time, it’s not Van Persie and United, but Alexis Sanchez and Manchester City. And Arsenal are left trying to decide whether selling to a top-of-the-table rival is acceptable when it comes to extracting some value from a player who can leave on a free transfer next season.

This time last year, Arsenal seemed to be in need of a striker. Sanchez and Ozil were seen as the only players in the squad who could have been considered genuine top quality, but an upgrade on Olivier Giroud looked necessary. And in the end, despite flat-out refusing to pay a reported £34m release clause for Alexandre Lacazette, that’s exactly what Wenger did.

Now, though, Arsenal seem prepared to sign the Frenchman for even more than they refused to pay this time last year. A development that seems even odder given that, a year on, the weakest part of the Gunners’ team seems to be in the centre of midfield, not attack. Last season, Sanchez bagged 30 goals in all competitions, so clearly that area isn’t an issue. Not unless he’s definitely leaving.

The reality is, an attacker as good as the Chilean will be a threat from anywhere he plays. And that means even adding Lacazette isn’t, by itself, enough to speculate about Sanchez’s exit. They could definitely play together. But given the fact that Arsenal are spending more money than they would have done had they signed the Frenchman last year, it seems more likely that he’s a replacement for Sanchez than a partner for him.

Quite clearly this is a backwards step. In each of the last four seasons, Lacazette has scored more than 20 goals, showing his consistency and the fact that he’s one of the better strikers in Europe, even if he has yet to prove himself outside of France. Last season, though, he scored 28 goals in 30 league games despite Lyon’s struggles. His club side slumped to a disappointing fourth place finish below the exciting Nice side who grabbed the last Champions League spot, yet that was a disappointment, especially in light of Monaco’s success in the league last season. Lyon have to wonder what would have been had they managed to keep the pace. Defeats both at home and away to relegated Lorient show just how bad it could get.

Despite that, though, Lacazette managed 37 goals in all competitions. He clearly knows where the net is, and even if he’s not the world class talent that Sanchez is, or even if he doesn’t provide as much to the team in terms of build-up play that the Chilean does, the Frenchman still clearly has his uses. Primarily as a goal poacher – something Arsenal have needed since Van Persie’s departure, Sanchez’s talent notwithstanding.

The problem is that whoever Arsenal sign in this window – barring one of the world’s top talent’s, of course – would be a downgrade on Sanchez should he leave. Lacazette would be no different. But if he stays, that would change the equation massively. And it would give Wenger a huge amount of options.

He could choose to stick with the back-three formation which won the FA Cup and lost only once – at White Hart Lane – in the final few months of the season. In that case, Sanchez could still reprise a central striking role alongside Lacazette in a 3-5-2, taking a more of a second-striker position, dropping deeper to support when necessary. In a 3-4-3, the Chilean might become more of an inside forward, something like the role Eden Hazard played for Chelsea last season.

Or, and perhaps given Wenger’s attitude to footballing tactics over the last two decades this is more likely, Arsenal could return to their habitual 4-2-3-1, with Lacazette up front and Sanchez roaming in from the wing as one of the three attacking midfielders behind the striker. That would represent perhaps the most regressive step Wenger could make, even if Sanchez does stay: it would be exactly the sort of system he could have played last season with Lacazette up front, but could have signed the Lyon striker for a much lower fee.

But whatever happens, Arsenal are still sweating on Sanchez. If he stays, Lacazette will be an upgrade whatever happens, adding a lethal striker to partner one of last season’s top scorers in attack. If Sanchez goes, then Lacazette as replacement starts to look a little inadequate, and Wenger must find a way to gear the attack towards him, as his link-up play often leaves quite a bit to be desired.

Looking around the Premier League, this looks like a summer of unlimited money. And yet Arsenal still look like they’re playing damage limitation.

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According to reports in The Telegraph, Manchester City are closing in on a deal to sign Newcastle United target Pepe Reina from Napoli.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Magpies manager Rafa Benitez is keen to sign a new number one goalkeeper this summer and he has been heavily linked with Reina, who he bought for both Liverpool and Napoli during his spell as manager at both clubs.

However, the Premier League new boys have failed to strike a deal for the 34-year-old and now The Telegraph reports that Man City are set to sign the Spaniard as a replacement for Claudio Bravo, who failed to impress during his first season in England.

The Citizens have already had a £2.6m offer for the stopper turned down by the Serie A outfit, who want £4.4m, but The Telegraph says the two clubs expect to reach an agreement in the next few days.

How did Reina do last season?

Despite the fact that he looks set to join City for a cut-price fee as he has just one year remaining on his Napoli contract, he was once again their first-choice goalkeeper last season.

The Spaniard showed that he is still able to perform at the highest level by conceding just 38 goals and keeping 12 clean sheets in 37 Serie A appearances.

With 285 Premier League outings to his name it was no wonder Benitez was keen as he looks to add more experience to his squad ahead of what is going to be a huge season for the Tyneside outfit.

How big a blow is it for Benitez?

It’s a pretty huge blow.

The former Liverpool boss had obviously set his sights on bringing Reina to St James’ Park as his first-choice goalkeeper and he will now need to look elsewhere for a more experienced stopper than the likes of Karl Darlow and Rob Elliot.

There aren’t exactly an abundance of options on the transfer market either with Joe Hart also on the verge of completing a move to West Ham.

Could Newcastle still rescue a deal?

They could certainly try.

Reina would know that he would be the number one for the Magpies but that isn’t guaranteed to be the case at City, who have already signed Ederson from Benfica for £35m earlier this summer.

West Ham United are close to announcing their third major signing in less than a week, bringing in Stoke City forward Marko Arnautovic for a club record £24million, and their fans are over the moon. The 28-year old Austrian has scored 26 goals for the Potters in his four seasons at the club, including a career-high 12 in the 2015-16 season.

After signing Joe Hart on-loan from Manchester City and agreeing a deal for former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker Javier Hernandez, the deal for Arnautović adds to a great summer for the Hammers.

Despite Charlie Adam’s parting shots at the Austrian, Slaven Bilic and Hammers fans will be happy to add a skilled attacker of Arnautović’s quality. The club’s transfer business has also impressed the rest of the league, namely Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho.

Although a title challenge is probably too much to ask this season, there is certainly a lot of excitement surrounding the Hammers’ additions and rightly so.

Newcastle United announced the arrival of their sixth signing of the summer on Wednesday.Manager Rafael Benitez has publicly claimed that he has not been satisfied with his club’s transfer activity so far, but the new boy through the door brings Premier League experience.Joselu hasÂofficially joined the clubÂfrom Stoke City, where he spent two years of his career, although last season he was sent to Deportivo La Coruna on loan.The Spaniard made 27 appearances for the Potters in total, scoring four times, and the Magpies will be hoping that he produces at St James’ Park this season.After putting pen to paper on a three-year contract, Joselu took to Twitter to express his delight in making the move.

The North-East outfit got their first taste of life back in the Premier League on Sunday when they took on Tottenham Hotspur on home soil.

It was a disappointing result for Benitez and his team as they were beaten 2-0 and Jonjo Shelvey was sent off for a stamp on Dele Alli.

Next up for Newcastle is a trip to face Huddersfield Town this Sunday.

Leeds United’s hopes of earning Premier League promotion took a slight hit when goalscorer Chris Wood was sold to Burnley last week.

The New Zealand international found the back of the net 27 times in the Championship last season, but he opted not to lead the line for Thomas Christiansen’s team in the 2017-18 campaign.

Instead, the 25-year-old made the move to top-flight club Burnley, in what the Daily Mail reported was a £15m deal.

Wood got off to the best possible start when he made his league debut on Sunday, by scoring a crucial goal against Tottenham Hotspur.

Sean Dyche’s side were staring at defeat following Dele Alli’s second-half goal, but Wood stepped up in the 92nd minute to grab an equaliser and a point for the Clarets.

The win meant that Burnley have taken four points from their first three games.

Leeds fans also had an eye on the match, and plenty had something to say about Wood getting off the mark.

Christian Atsu, Ciaran Clark and Mikel Merino have all been nominated for Newcastle United’s August Player of the Month award, with fans able to vote on who they think should win.Despite beginning the campaign with defeats against Tottenham Hotspur at St James’ Park and fellow newly-promoted side Huddersfield Town at the John Smith’s Stadium, the Magpies bounced back with an impressive 3-0 win at home to West Ham United last time out.Even though Clark netted in the success against the Irons, Atsu – who completed a permanent move to Tyneside during the summer from Chelsea following a successful loan spell – was also a key performer and he set up Joselu for the opening goal of the game.Newcastle supporters were quick to have their say on who should win the award via social media, and Atsu appears to be the overwhelming favourite with many saying that he “deserves itâ€.Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Chelsea stormed through the first match of their Champions League group stage last night, taking advantage of lacklustre defending to sink six past Qarabag at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues won’t find things as easy in their upcoming matches against Atletico Madrid and Roma, who drew 0-0 last night, but it was a morale boosting victory and one man was isolated for particular praise from a Chelsea legend.

Frank Lampard, covering the Chelsea match for BT Sport, claimed that Eden Hazard is capable of reaching the same heights as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on his day- a view that caused quite a stir on social media.

Hazard is yet to perform at the highest level for Chelsea in the European stage, enduring a sub-par season in Jose Mourinho’s ill-fated third year in West London two-years ago, and needs to find consistency in the competition this year if he’s to prove his worth.

He has, however, tormented Premier League defences and played a huge part in Chelsea’s two league titles over the course of the past three years, which is why Lampard rates the Belgian so highly.

Joey Barton is known to not mince his words, and on this occasion, the former Manchester City midfielder has questioned Everton’s acquisition of Gylfi Sigurdsson.

The Iceland international was one of the Merseyside outfit’s top targets during the summer transfer window.

It took time, but the Toffees managed to get a deal with Swansea City over the line, widely reported to cost in the region of £40m.

Sigurdsson was influential for the Welsh club last season, scoring nine goals and creating 13 assists in 38 Premier League outings.

However, for Everton, the midfielder has managed just one goal and one assist in nine appearances.

The 28-year-old is not the only player under-performing at Goodison Park, with the team overall failing to pick teams off.

Ronald Koeman’s side have won just two of their seven top-flight fixtures, and they are yet to win in the Europa League group stage having lost one and drawn one.

While on talkSPORT, Barton spoke specifically about Sigurdsson, suggesting that the midfielder and Everton are not the right fit.

“Sigurdsson hasn’t hit the ground running, not much to my surprise. I never consider him that calibre of player. I think he needs to be a big player in a small team, but at Everton the team isn’t built around him so he can’t showcase the talent.”