Greg Taylor’s comments from earlier this summer make clear that his recent absence from PAOK’s Europa League qualifier was not linked to a possible Celtic return.
That decision led to fresh speculation over his future, particularly after Taylor had previously refused to rule out returning to Celtic one day.
However, there is nothing to suggest his absence had anything to do with a transfer.
Speaking on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard in June, Taylor spoke openly about his plans to return to Greece for pre-season and fight for his place at PAOK.
He said: “It’s been a time of settling in and a whole different change for me, the first time I have moved away from home.
“I am excited to go back for pre-season. Give it my best crack and see where next season takes me.
“I think we are in the second round of the Europa League qualifying. We had a disappointing result on the last day, which meant that we aren’t Champions League qualifiers. I think the first game is 23 July, so an early start.”
Those comments show Taylor was preparing for the new season with PAOK and expected to be involved in their European campaign.
His omission from the Dynamo Kyiv match came after he told the club he did not feel able to give the game the required focus because of a personal matter.
PAOK accepted that request and left him out of the travelling squad, with Jonathan Gomez starting at left-back.
He also said recently that he would never completely rule out a return.
That is still very different from there being an active move.
At present, there is no evidence that Celtic have opened talks with PAOK or that Taylor’s absence from the European tie was connected to his future.
His June comments point in the opposite direction, with the Scotland international focused on returning for pre-season and making a success of his second campaign in Greece.
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One Response
Taylor’s name continues to be linked with Celtic because Celtic fan websites can’t let a player leave Celtic without bringing his name up again for a possible return.
Stop the obsession with ex-players.
Lazy nonsense.