Lawwell promises new Celtic arrivals

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has vowed to provide funds in January to boost the club’s quest for four in a row.

The Scottish champions moved seven points clear at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League yesterday by defeating Inverness after Rangers had lost to Hearts earlier in the day.

With no European football to look forward to after Christmas, Celtic will place their entire focus on winning a fourth consecutive title.

And Lawwell has promised the Hoops faithful there will be new faces in January to bolster their chances further.

He told the Scottish Mail on Sunday: “Our first focus is to win the league and we will do whatever we can to make that happen.

“We have three domestic trophies to win. We want to win the SPL title to get us to four in a row and be back in the Champions League next year.

“To that end, in the short term, we will be doing as much as we can to support (manager) Gordon (Strachan) in January.

“We are looking at both quality and quantity. We have a track record of getting to a transfer window and coming out of it stronger.”

And Lawwell insisted he would be surprised if midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura quit in the next transfer window despite reports linking him with a return to Japan.

He added: “We hope he will stay. If he does go, it will be a surprise.

“He will leave at some point. If it is the summer, then clearly we must plan for that replacement and we will do that.”

Meanwhile, Strachan insists he has no intention of walking away from Celtic either.

He said: “A lot of people maybe think it was a good time to go after three titles. But they’re not me.

“They said that after year one, they said it for year two, then three, and they’ll say it again for year four.

“But it’s people who don’t really know me.

“It’s funny how people can say ’He’s not got the stomach for it.’

“But it’s those who don’t know me who are saying what I’m going to do.

“Why would I leave? What would I do?”