Martin O'Neill has addressed the interest in Callum McGregor from Saudi teams, making it clear that Celtic should do everything in their power to keep the captain.
Ever since Brendan Rodgers departed the club and picked up a new role in charge of Al Qadsiah, the media have been linking McGregor with a move away. Some people thought it may be on the cards in January, but the Celts managed to keep him on their books.
Yet, with Rodgers' side sitting in fourth place and fighting for the top three, there is new speculation that the skipper could head over there at the end of the season.
Speaking on the McGregor links, O'Neill said: "From my time here, which has not been that long, I would think that the football club, it’s in their interest to keep him.
"He’s a really good leader. I’ve said this umpteen times, but it’s worth repeating again – in the dressing room, he’s really good, but on the field, he keeps things moving along.
"Players look to him as well; we all do. I don’t know how long he’s got left of a contract, but if I was around, I would be saying to the board, ‘You’ve got to be keeping him’.
"I bet you there would have been in the past opportunities for him to have left and earned more money elsewhere. I’m not saying he’s a pauper; what I’m saying is he could have done this, he could have gone when he was absolutely at his height.
"That speaks volumes for a lad who’s got lots of loyalty. But it’s not the loyalty; lots of people can have loyalty and not be able to play. He can do that.
"I think he’s played a lot of games here this season. I think if he could get a proper rest in the summer, he’d be raring to go again.
"But I think he’s quality here, seriously, and I would be surprised if any manager stepped in here did not like his qualities both as a leader and as a player."
Massive summer ahead, but Celtic must keep McGregor
With a new manager set to be appointed at the end of the season, there is bound to be a huge rebuild in the summer. There will be many players who leave the club, but McGregor has to be one of the squad members we keep.
Although he has rightly drawn some criticism for some of his performances throughout the campaign, he is a leader on and off the pitch. There have been moments where he has looked to have run his race this season, but everyone can tell that he still has much more to give.
The real solution isn't to get rid of him - it's to bring in a player who can rotate in his position, potentially someone like transfer target Miguel Chaiwa. He needs a backup so he can stop playing every single game. We can't afford to lose him, but it's also not viable for him to continue playing the amount of minutes that he is.
Only time will tell what will happen, but hopefully, we'll be going into next season with McGregor keeping the armband.
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