Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has expressed his desire to keep Greg Taylor at the club, as the left-back is about to enter the final six months of his contract.

27th October 2024; Fir Park, Motherwell, Scotland; Scottish Premiership Football, Motherwell versus Celtic; Greg Taylor of Celtic

He’ll be free to speak to other clubs in January and sign a pre-contract agreement.

The 26-year-old, who joined from Kilmarnock in 2019, has become a mainstay in Celtic’s defence, with his 200th appearance for the club expected early in the new year.

Speaking ahead of Celtic’s return to Premiership action against Hearts, Rodgers shared his hopes for a resolution:

“I don’t think there is anything close [with Greg Taylor], but I repeat, it’s definitely something that I want to do,” he told CeltsAreHere.

“But I need to be respectful to both sides, but from a managerial side, I really want him to stay here, and I really hope we can do everything we can to keep him.

“I also respect Greg’s position. There’s no drop-off with him. He’s a great trainer with a great mentality.

“If he didn’t renew, I know until the very last day he will give everything here. I am very hopeful that we can sign him because he’s developed here, and his skillsets suit how we play on the pitch.

“He’s a very good passer of the ball and his view of the game is so good, he plays that inverted role so good for us.

“Off the pitch, he’s a really good leader of the group, and we don’t want to be moving that on; we want to be keeping those players if they want to stay.

“Hopefully, over time, we can get that done also.”

Taylor has thrived at Celtic, excelling in the modern inverted full-back role and becoming a key figure in the team’s success. Fans will be eager to see the club secure his long-term future as Celtic look to retain their core players for sustained domestic and European ambitions.

January will probably be quite telling about what the future has in store for Celtic’s left-back position.

Alex Valle’s loan expires in the summer, and if Celtic aren’t confident about Taylor renewing, they could go into the market in January to avoid being left with no left-backs.

In a normal summer, this wouldn’t be the worst-case scenario. Celtic could go out early and get one in, but with Champions League qualifiers likely to get played, it might not be a risk worth taking.

1 COMMENT

  1. The longer this contract saga drags on regarding Taylor, the more likely it is starting to look that Taylor sees his future elsewhere imo?
    Yet Taylor is a calabria of player, that won’t be attracting a club nowhere close to the size of ourselves?
    Would be a bit surprised if Taylor could attract a much better finical package from a potential championship club, better than we are prepared to offer?
    Certainly wouldn’t be a club, that would be involved in as many high profile matches, that we are involved within?
    And all of this, while Taylor is possibly at the peak of his career?
    Doesn’t make much sense overall at present?
    So if a guess was to be made upon the potential future for Taylor?
    Then maybe an offer from the MLS could be favourite for himself imo?

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