It has become abundantly clear this season that Celtic need to strengthen their squad as soon as possible. This team is nowhere near good enough. The Hoops are struggling to keep up with even Scottish opposition at the moment, when winning a domestic treble had become the norm for them just half-a-decade back.

Over time, the squad has constantly declined to this point. Now, a revamp is needed and genuine quality needs to be brought in pretty much every position.

One of them is midfield. Paraguayan midfielder Damian Bobadilla is someone who has been linked with a move to Parkhead in recent weeks.

Bobadilla is a full Paraguayan international and has been impressing with his performances in Brazil for Sao Paulo in recent times.

Unfortunately, Celtic are not the only team keeping an eye out on Bobadilla. There are other players who want to sign him as well. And it looks like the Hoops might have already fallen behind in the race for his signature.

According to Football Insider, Brighton are leading Celtic and other Premier League rivals in the race to sign Bobadilla. The financial capabilities of English clubs means that the Seagulls are prepared to blow the Hoops out of the water to agree a deal for the Sao Paulo midfielder.

Brighton have a good record when it comes to signing players from South America and developing them into top players in the Premier League. Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister are two great examples of that.

So, that might hand them an advantage in the race for Bobadilla as well, as he would surely want to reach those heights.

Of course, if Brighton do make a serious push for Bobadilla, there is very little that Celtic might be able to do. That is the financial gulf that exists between the Premier League and the Scottish Premiership. That is just the reality of the situation and the Hoops need to adjust to that.

It is promising that Celtic are being linked with players who are also on the radar of Brighton, a club with a phenomenal transfer record. Now, the Hoops need to find a way to convince such talents to join them.

It remains to be seen how Celtic's approach changes in the transfer market in the summer. The last few have been major flops, to say the very least. So, a change is definitely needed to get better results in the future.

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