Brendan Rodgers warning clubs off Celtic midfield duo
It appears that Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers biggest moves in January are going to come not from buying, but from holding on to players. After making a move for Kouassi Eboue, Rodgers hasn’t spent any money in the transfer window.
The only other move of note was a loan spell for buried central defender Eoghan O’Connell to Walsall in the English League One.
Since then there have been a lot of rumored moves, both in to Celtic Park and out of the club. None of them have come to fruition, and it appears that the two most rumored players to move on from Celtic — midfielders Gary Mackay-Steven and Nir Bitton — aren’t going anywhere after all.
Rodgers has spoke out about the rumored deal for Mackay-Steven back to Dundee United and quashed that rumor quickly according to the Daily Record.
“I have a number of offers for Gary to go out but he is not one that I see going out.
“He is a very important member of our squad here and in the second half of the season we want to be better so I don’t really want to be losing any players like Gary.”
He also had the same line when asked about out of favor central midfielder Nir Bitton.
"“Nir has worked very hard in training and looked very good and not one that we want to lose. We haven’t had anything for him and I am happy with that as he is a very important member of our squad.”"
The Israeli international appeared to be in further trouble on the squad list with the addition of Eboue in this transfer window, but it appears Rodgers still thinks there is some good football left in him.
In fact, it appears that Bitton could be in place for a role on Sunday, as Eboue has been ruled out of the squad thanks to the delays in his work permit. Eboue has just arrived in Scotland and clearly isn’t ready to join up in full just yet.
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Additionally, Rodgers noted that forward Kris Commons’ spell at Hibernian under Neil Lennon has come to an end and he is back training with Celtic. Will that move become a permanent one? It appears Commons has some serious thinking to do and that Rodgers doesn’t see him as a long-term part of Celtic’s plan.
“I believe that Hibs would like to keep him but Kris has to have a think because it is not just about the next six months, it is about the next few years so everything has to be right for him,” Rodgers told the Daily Record.
With all the talk of January being important to Rodgers’ goals of setting Celtic up not just for a domestic treble run, but for a run at the Champions League again next season, it sure has been a quiet time around Celtic Park.