The four week long period between this international break and the next, containing seven fixtures, could be season-defining for Celtic.
Having yielded just a solitary point from their first two Europa League outings, Brendan Rodgers’ team really need to get some points on the board against Sturm Graz at home and then Midtjylland in Herning, because the fixtures only get tougher after that.
Meantime, on the domestic front, the Hoops will visit current Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts the Sunday after next, an eagerly anticipated clash at Tynecastle, before the small matter of an Old Firm League Cup semi-final at Hampden a week later.
Given their underwhelming form so far, supporters are hoping to see players come to the fore and put their best foot forward, but which summer signing is showing early signs of a certain Tom Rogic?
Tom Rogic's Celtic career in numbers
Few players in modern Celtic history remain as beloved as Rogic.
After arriving from Central Coast Mariners in January 2013, the Australian made 272 appearances in hoops, scoring 46 goals and providing 51 assists.
He netted six times against Rangers, while also scoring, arguably, the most famous goal of the club’s recent history, firing home a stoppage-time winner in the 2017 Scottish Cup Final against Aberdeen to secure the invincible treble that bookended Rodgers’ first season in charge.
Affectionately known as the Wizard of Oz, this nickname encapsulates Rogic’s style of play, possessing the clichéd ‘wand of a left foot’, while Rodgers similarly labelled him a “magician”.
Meantime, then teammate Josip Juranović asserted that the Australian “is little Messi”, adding “he’s one of the best players I have played with”.
When he departed at the end of the 2021/22 campaign, Rogic received an emotional standing ovation from the Celtic faithful as genuine and heartfelt recognition for all the magical moments he had provided.
He cited wanting the move closer to home as the reason for his departure and, technically, he did that by about 280 of the 10,550 miles, joining West Bromwich Albion as a free agent, albeit he made only 23 appearances for the Baggies before retiring at the age of 30.
When Rogic arrived as a 20-year-old from an A-League club very few in Glasgow would ever have heard of, surely no one could’ve foreseen just how impactful he would be at the club, so is a current squad member set for a similar trajectory?
Celtic's next Tom Rogic
Supporters remain generally furious with the board’s inactivity this summer, believing that transfer deals were completed too late, costing Celtic a place in the Champions League.
Well, considering Marcelo Saracchi, Michel-Ange Balikwisha, Sebastian Tounekti and Kelechi Iheanacho all arrived after the play-off defeat to Kairat, they may have a point.
One new recruit who did join all the way back in June, instantaneously establishing himself as a first-choice starter, is Benjamin Nygren, and what an absolute bargain he could prove to be.
Into the final few months of his contract with Nordsjælland, the Hoops managed to sign the Sweden international for a reported fee of £1.7m, while Football Transfers believe his current value to be around £6m, having already increased just 13 appearances into his Celtic career.
The table below emphasises his importance to the team so far this season.
Goals
4
1st
Assists
4
1st
Shots
23
1st
Shots on target
11
1st
Key passes
6
1st
Big chances created
6
1st
Shot-creating actions
6
1st
Successful dribbles per 90
0.7
2nd
Average rating
7.67
1st
As the table documents, Nygren ranks first for a wide variety of attacking metrics this season, thereby very much part of Rodgers’ first-choice midfield trio, despite the fact many forecast he was joining to replace Nicolas Kühn on the right-wing.
The Swede, who was an unused substitute for both of the Blågult’s World Cup qualifying defeats this week, scored his fourth goal for Celtic against Motherwell last time out, having opened his account for the club against Aberdeen in August.
Following that victory at Pittodrie, Rodgers praised Nygren’s “excellent” performance, noting that “his intuition is to get in the box and score goals”, as Rogic often did, connecting with Kieran Tierney’s low cross to fire past Dimitar Mitov.
Meantime, following a 5-1 dismantling of Northern Ireland in March, international teammate Alexander Isak described Nygren as “fearless”, concluding that “playing with a winger like that who is able to provide good crosses can only be beneficial for someone like me”.
That is high praise from the most-expensive player in British football history, so the £1.7m Celtic paid to secure the 24-year-old’s signature looks like a genuine bargain.
Thus, supporters will hope he remains in Glasgow’s East End for nigh on a decade too, as Rogic did, the last player at the club who could boast possessing an equally majestic left foot.