Excited Brendan Rodgers met with club power broker Dermot Desmond in Dublin this week to thrash out January transfer plans – remained tight-lipped on the prospect of a reunion with Kieran Tierney.
But the Parkhead gaffer refused to rule out a move while underlining his desire to secure out of contract Greg Taylor on a new deal. He said: "On Tuesday, I flew to Dublin to have a meeting with Dermot, me and Michael and Chris and staff. Just talking about January and what we normally do. Then I got back from that and I watched the B team final. Then obviously back into work. So for the manager and the coaches, we're always looking forward."
The Celtic boss admitted it was inevitable the former fans favourite would be linked with his former club after finding out Arsenal are not going to be giving the full back an extension to his contract. Tierney is free to talk to clubs in January and will be a free agent in the summer – with Celts understood to be keen on exploring the possibility of a return. He added: "We'll always be linked with top players and especially players that are one of us. Kieran was an instrumental part of a really, really successful period when I was here. And his talents then took him on to another challenge in the Premier League. So, yeah, we'll be linked with lots of names. Kieran, obviously, naturally because of his situation. But for us, we'll only ever tell you when we sign a player, once he's signed.”
Brendan Rodgers and Kieran Tierney (Image: Celtic FC Foundation)
Rodgers remains hopeful of keeping Taylor beyond the end of this season. He said: “I would hope so. I think I've said it a number of times, he's so important for our squad, Greg. Because when you want to build a squad, it's never just about starters. It's about the whole squad and you want to adapt to that. So he's a player that I've really enjoyed working with so much on and off the pitch. And I've said it before and I repeat, I really want him to stay. So I'm hoping that between the club and his representatives, we can organise a deal. But I also understand he's 27 now, this will be one of the last big contracts of his career. So he has to make sure that everything is right. But what I do know is, I really want him to be here. I love working with him. I really enjoy the aspect of seeing him every day because he's up for every training session. And for me, he's really important for us.”
Celtic have been hit with a festive blow with James Forrest ruled out for up to six weeks. The Hoops ace suffered a knock in Sunday's Premier Sports Cup victory against Rangers and left Hampden on crutches.
And when asked about the fallout over the non-Rangers penalty and the subsequent VAR storm, Rodgers admitted he kept his distance from a storm as Ibrox chiefs sought justice. He said: “I've only seen little bits of it, if I'm totally honest. Because I've been busy doing other things. But it doesn't surprise me. I've been involved in 20 games now. And there's always a narrative of something after the game.
“Whether something should have been sent off or not. Or whether it was a goal or not. Or whether it was a penalty or not. Even when the penalty's offside. So all these things all get thrown into the mix. So I don't really think a lot of it, to be honest. It's there. It's a talking point. My only interest was for us to be there and come out handed with a trophy."