BRENDAN Rodgers has made securing the services of Stuart Armstrong on a long-term contract his top priority after leading Celtic to only the fourth treble in their history and an unprecedented 47 game undefeated domestic season.
Rodgers, whose side beat Aberdeen in the William Hill Scottish Cup final at Hampden on Saturday thanks to an injury-time Tom Rogic goal to complete their annus mirablis, is optimistic the player will commit his future to the Parkhead club.
The Irishman revealed he had deliberately put discussions with Armstrong, whose current deal expires at the end of next season, on hold until after his side had completed their domestic campaign, but is now ready to open talks.
The news is sure to delight Celtic fans further as the Scotland internationalist, who was once again outstanding at the weekend and netted a first-half equaliser, has become a key member of the first team during the past 10 months.
Rodgers said: “I’m sure it will get tied up. We put it off about ten days ago because I didn’t want it to effect the preparation for this game. But hopefully that can be done afterwards. Stuart in the second half really showed his power, speed and quality and running ability.”
The 25-year-old has been linked with moves to the Barclays Premier League in England as a result of his form with Celtic during the 2016/17 season with Brighton, Burnley and Everton all reported to be monitoring his progress.
Rodgers admitted the Scottish champions would be unable to offer Armstrong and his team mates the money he can receive in England, or in other major leagues in Europe, but would do all they can to retain them.
“I’m realistic,” he said. “Football is about two things for players - game time and money. What we can do is create an environment that is fantastic for them to be in. If they decide to move, it’s okay. We’ll fight to keep them, but if they don’t want to stay, we’ll find someone else. No problem, someone else will come in and play and hopefully do well for us.”
Rodgers is keen for Celtic to make a greater impact in the Champions League next season will attempt to strengthen his squad further with two or three quality signings during the summer.
However, the 44-year-old admitted it will be difficult for the Glasgow club to progress to the knockout rounds of Europe’s premier club competition or the Europa League due to the spending power of their rival clubs on the continent.
“We want to quality first and foremost,” he said. “That will always be a challenge. Then we have to try and see what we can do. You have to be careful and recognise where we are. We’re 10 times behind budget-wise. You have to be realistic.
“The gauge for us is to measure calmly once we’ve qualified. We would like to be in Europe for the second part of the season, whatever competition that’s in, and that’s a huge, huge ask for a club like ourselves.”
Rodgers, though, confirmed he has received the complete backing of major shareholder Dermot Desmond and chief executive Peter Lawwell and admitted he was pleased to repay the faith of both men with the treble.
“A big thank you to them,” he said. “Because without them giving me the opportunity to man-age, I wouldn’t be here. But they are clever guys - they knew what they were getting!”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here