Brendan Rodgers was chuffed that Celtic star Alistair Johnston this week penned a contract extension.
The manager has been delighted with the Canadian’s form and improvement at right-back for the club in recent months.
He even handed the 26-year-old the captain’s armband when Callum McGregor was rested for games against Motherwell and St Mirren in a sign of respect and trust in the full-back.
Johnston’s fresh terms have been a priority for the club to get sorted with the defender surely attracting interest with his strong showings and impressive appearances.
But it is not just AJ that Rodgers hopes the Hoops can tie down on the longer term.
Celtic have been secure in their contract decisions in recent times with all their top talent penning extensions including the likes of Reo Hatate, Kyogo and even Matt O’Riley before he left for Brighton.
That was key to the club raking in £30million for the Dane but Rodgers hopes Greg Taylor can be the next player added to the list of stars tied down.
The manager has never hid his admiration for the left-back and he now wants him to follow in Johnston’s footsteps by committing his future to the Glasgow giants.
Brendan Rodgers wants Taylor to sign a new Celtic contract
Rodgers did, however, stop short of confirming anything was close on the matter and instead revealed that he is content to wait it out – but he does hope it can be done.
“I don’t think there’s anything close but I repeat it’s definitely something that I really want to do,” he said.
“I have to respect both sides on that from Greg’s side, from the club’s side but from a managerial side I really want him to stay here and I really hope that we can do everything we can to keep him.
“But I also respect Greg’s position and there’s no drop off with him because he’s such a great trainer, he has a great mentality.
When does Greg Taylor’s Celtic contract expire?
“If he didn’t renew, I know until the very last day here he would give absolutely everything, but I’m very hopeful that we can sign him because he’s been developed here, his skill set suits how he works on the pitch, he’s a brilliant passer to the ball his view of the game is so good he plays that inverted role really well for us.
“Off the pitch, he’s a real pillar of the group and we want to continue with that we don’t want to be moving players like that we want to keep those players if they want to stay.
“So hopefully over time, we can get that done also.”
Taylor is signed up at Parkhead until summer, 2025.
He could potentially sign a pre-contract elsewhere in January.
