Brendan Rodgers may have left Celtic behind. His interest in the club captain clearly has not.
A report in the Scottish Sun claims Rodgers is plotting a move to tempt Callum McGregor to Saudi Arabia, with the midfielder viewed as a priority target for Al Qadsiah.
Rodgers has only just started in the Middle East, yet McGregor is said to sit high on his wish list. It would not be the first time. In 2019, while at Leicester City, Rodgers tried and failed to persuade McGregor to head to the Premier League.
The landscape has changed since then. McGregor is now 32, a treble-winning skipper, and widely regarded as the heartbeat of Celtic on the pitch and in the dressing room.
His importance has not faded with age. If anything, it has grown. Through managerial changes, European campaigns, and turbulence off the field, McGregor has been the constant.
That is exactly why any Saudi interest will meet firm resistance in Glasgow. Celtic will not welcome speculation around their captain, especially given the context of Rodgers’ departure and the strain that followed. There is little appetite to sell a cornerstone figure to a former manager, regardless of the fee.
From McGregor’s side, the calculation is more nuanced. At 32, he is moving into the latter stages of his career. A move to Saudi Arabia would almost certainly bring a significant financial uplift, perhaps one final lucrative contract. That is hard to ignore, even for someone as closely tied to Celtic as McGregor.
Cal’s current deal runs until 2028 so Celtic would be firmly in the driving seat.
Even so, there is no indication that McGregor is pushing for a move, and there has been no formal approach. For now, it remains speculation.
What is beyond doubt is the scale of the loss if he were to go. Replacing his leadership, influence, and deep understanding of the club would be close to impossible in the short term. He is more than a midfielder. He is the standard-bearer.
Celtic supporters will hope this is nothing more than idle transfer noise. With Saudi clubs increasingly aggressive in the market, and Rodgers now operating in that world, the story may run for a while.
