Brendan Rodgers has opened up on the unusual Greg Taylor contract dilemma. It seems that all parties are loving life at the moment but in less than two months the former Kilmarnock man is free to sign a pre-contract agreement ahead of walking away in July. Taylor signed a contract extension in November 2021 but unlike most of his team-mates he hasn’t put pen to paper on an extension under Rodgers.
Almost as soon as the Irishman returned to Celtic new deals were agreed with the core of Ange Postecoglou,’s squad.
Callum McGregor and Kyogo Furuhashi were first to sign up again, Reo Hatate, Matt O’Riley and Daizen Maeda did likewise, in January of this year Cameron Carter-Vickers extended his contract.
Taylor has been a fixture on the team sheet under the new management, his performances and conduct are regularly praised but 17 months after Rodgers returned to Celtic the clock is rapidly ticking down on the defender’s contract.
Asked if there had been any progress towards a new contract for Taylor Rodgers said:
Nothing as of yet. You see his importance to our game the other night. I think the possibility of having two quality players in each position, I think that’s what you see in the game the other night. We play Alex (Valle) in the semi-final and he does fantastically well. Tuesday night was a different game, I felt, and what we wanted from the game.
So I can bring then Greg in and you see the level that he played at, how clean he was, how bright he was, how well he defended, how well he attacked. So he’s clearly obviously someone I see as a big part of what we’re looking to continue here and I hope over the coming months that we can do that.
There does come a point where both sides, we have to understand what we’re thinking, because if it’s not going to happen, then OK, we know that. We can then plan and prepare going forward. But I really hope it doesn’t get to that because I love working with Greg Taylor.
He’s played, what, about 186 games here. I can’t tell you how influential he is off the pitch and how good he’s been on the pitch for this club, the consistency and also how we play. Both our full-backs are absolutely critical for us and how we operate, and they have two totally different functions and how they work. Greg is a specialist in what he does for us and you see the flow of the team.
I watched the game the other night. RB Leipzig pressing us with four players. We’re getting five in our build-up. We’ve got different solutions to get through. He’s a massive part of that. So, I really hope that we can do something. Plus, I really, really like him.
He’s such a good guy. He loves being here. He’s a big voice in the changing room. Every single day in training, he’s so good. He’s focused. He’s just married. He’ll be a father later on in the year as well. So, we want him to really settle down and get everything ready for him. I just want to continue working with him for as long as I possibly can.
With Taylor and Valle getting one start each in a semi-final and Champions League tie it will be interesting to see which left-back starts Sunday’s match away to Kilmarnock.
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