Sevilla sporting director Victor Orta has confirmed defender Kike Salas turned down loan moves to Celtic and Red Bull Salzburg this summer.

Injuries to four players have left manager Brendan Rodgers short of options in the centre of defence so the Hoops were scouring the market for potential signings. It seems Salas was one of those who could have been brought in but Orta says the 21-year-old wasn’t keen on moving teams:

“Kike Salas is a great example of a kid who has come through our youth system and many teams wanted him on loan. I had practically every team in the second division asking for him and he also had the chance to go to top foreign teams like Celtic and Red Bull Salzburg, but didn’t.”

Salas started the 4-3 defeat to Alaves last month so he may feel that his decision to remain at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan will pay off.

Celtic, meanwhile, moved on to snap up Liverpool defender Nat Phillips, who is a much more experienced centre-back.

Celtic could have some of their defenders back soon

Yuki Kobayashi, Maik Nawrocki, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Stephen Welsh have all been out injured recently.

Kobayashi returned to the substitutes bench for the derby at the weekend, while Nawrocki is likely to be back available after the international break.

However, both Carter-Vickers (hamstring) and Welsh (ankle) may need a bit longer to recover full fitness.

Rodgers has strength in depth

The additions of Phillips and Benfica midfielder Bernardo close to the transfer deadline mean that manager Brendan Rodgers has 11 defenders, 9 central midfielders and 10 forwards in his squad.

For all intents and purposes, it should be enough to cover all eventualities. That depth will be needed when Celtic start playing every few days later this month as the Champions League group stage kicks off.