Aiden McGeady says Celtic star simply won’t replace Callum McGregor

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Callum McGregor continues to write his name into the legendary books at Celtic.

The 31-year-old won trophy number 23 of his career last week, moving up the list of Celtic’s most decorated players. You sense there is plenty more to come!

Celtic’s League Cup final win over Rangers perhaps was one of his greatest, simply because trophy number 119 was delivered and won via a penalty shootout.

Nearly every player under Brendan Rodgers can be pushed and probed, in terms of their starting place, but not the man with the armband.

McGregor’s place in XI is fixed and no-one is getting ahead of him, even if his form takes a turn for the worst, which in truth, hardly ever happens.

Even with Celtic having many strong midfield options to pick from, Aiden McGeady made it clear that nobody is replacing McGregor.

Aiden McGeady plays down Luke McCowan being Callum McGregor’s replacement at Celtic

Luke McCowan signed for his boyhood club in the summer and the former Dundee star has quickly become a fan favourite.

Rodgers is slowly integrating him into the team and McGeady feels he has performed ‘very, very well’ from the chances that have been handed to him.

But McGeady, after hearing claims that McCowan will replace McGregor, was quick to shut all of that down, as he told Sky Sports Football (22/12/24 at 11:35 am).

“Not really (surprised he hasn’t been handed more chances),” said McGeady. “Not in terms of his play because I think when he has been on the pitch, he has performed very, very well.

“I think it’s probably a case of Brendan Rodgers integrating him into the team, with the way he wants to play and his style of play, and him being accustomed to playing at a big club like Celtic.

“Over time, I think he will play a lot more. The games he has impacted, the games he has come on and some of the European games – but I have been very impressed by what I have seen so far. I think, over time, people are saying he will be a like-for-like replacement for Callum McGregor. I don’t see that because McGregor has got years left in him. I think eventually he will be part of this starting Celtic team in the next few months.”

McCowan’s stats for Celtic

McCowan started Celtic’s drab goalless draw against Dundee United over the weekend, but he wasn’t able to make an impact as the team dropped points for only the second time this season.

That was only the 27-year-old’s fifth start – all coming in the Premiership – and he will want to double that after the New Year.

McCowan will get stronger in Celtic colours and WhoScored have rated his performances in the Premiership so far at 7.03.