Martin O’Neill has made it clear that Celtic must do everything they can to keep Callum McGregor.
The Hoops captain has linked with a move to Saudi Arabia, where former boss Brendan Rodgers has made an immediate impact since his shock exit from Celtic in October.
It all came around very suddenly on Monday night. A report with no by-line surfaced and all of a sudden Celtic dropped a bombshell statement, confirming that Rodgers had moved on.
Rodgers’ side in Saudi Arabia have lost just once since he took over and are pushing towards the top end of the table, sparking speculation he could look to reunite with his former skipper.
But O’Neill isn’t entertaining that idea.
In fact, he’s urging the Celtic board to shut it down entirely.
Speaking on the links, he said:
“From my time here, which has not been that long, I would think that the football club, it’s in their interest to keep him,” O’Neill said. “He’s a really good leader. I’ve said this umpteen times, but it’s worth repeating again – in the dressing room, he’s really good, but on the field, he keeps things moving along.
“Players look to him as well, we all do. I don’t know how long he’s got left of a contract, but if I was around I would be saying to the board, ‘You’ve got to be keeping him’.
“I bet you there would have been in the past opportunities for him to have left and earned more money elsewhere. I’m not saying he’s a pauper, what I’m saying is he could have done this, he could have gone when he was absolutely at his height.
“That speaks volumes for a lad who’s got lots of loyalty. But it’s not the loyalty, lots of people can have loyalty and not be able to play. He can do that.
“I think he’s played a lot of games here this season. I think if he could get a proper rest in the summer he’d be raring to go again.
“But I think he’s quality here, seriously, and I would be surprised if any manager stepped in here did not like his qualities both as a leader and as a player.” [The Herald]
Celtic are heading into a massive summer, with a new manager expected to head a big rebuild.
That new manager, whoever he may be, will make his own decision on McGregor.
But with the club expected to go through a lot of change, having someone as experienced and reliable as McGregor, won’t necessarily be a bad thing.
Time will tell what will happen with McGregor, who will be focused on trying to lead the team to success this season.
Callum McGregor is far too smart to go anywhere near that cancerous piece of 💩.
Rodgers is the least trustworthy manager in British football history.
He is scum.
At least all the corrupt ex rangers managers were exposed without them running away, (Gerrard excluded)