Brendan Rodgers must sign a new contract extension at Celtic for the board to deliver him funds to strengthen for next season’s Champions League.
That’s according to pundit and former Celtic striker Andy Walker, who believes Rodgers is the only manager the Parkhead hierarchy would grant record-breaking sums of money to.
Celtic were knocked out of the Champions League at the knockout phase play-off on Tuesday night as Bayern Munich snatched a second leg draw to win 3-2 on aggregate.
Chris Sutton labelled the Hoops ‘absolutely outstanding’ as Celtic put in arguably their best ever away performance in UEFA’s top tier competition.
But the Hoops hero admits a factor in why Celtic were put out by Bayern is because they do not currently have a strong enough bench to compete at that stage of the Champions League.
Rodgers made just two subs at the Allianz Arena as he prepared for extra-time. Adam Idah came on as did winger Yang Hyun-jun.
Luke McCowan and Greg Taylor were unused but bar those four players, Celtic’s away dugout in Munich lacked experience and quality.
Walker reckons Rodgers needs to sign new Celtic contract
Walker was speaking on the Let Me Be Frank Podcast and the topic of discussion was raised by host and former Celtic man Frank McAvennie.
He touched on Rodgers’ comments after the Bayern defeat, saying: “I liked the comment – I don’t know if you seen it Andy – from Brendan after it. He wasn’t resting on his laurels. He said ‘we’ll go again in the summer and get new players.’
“And I’m thinking he needs that because the people you bring on (from the bench) – I mean you’ve got Bernardo and McCowan – but different defenders. You need to bring on quality for quality.”
Walker agreed but thinks in order for Rodgers to add more quality to his bench next season, he’ll need to sign a new Celtic contract to justify the board’s decision to give the Norther Irishman a Champions League war chest.
Walker said: “I think that’s a really interesting one Frank because his contract runs out at the end of next season I think. So you would need him to extend his contract.
“If you’re on the board at Celtic, you would need him to extend his contract for Brendan to have a chance at getting the type of money he’s talking about to get the players in.
“To spend £11m on Engels, £9m on Idah, £6m on Trusty – I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t think Celtic would do that. He’s the only manager who would make the Celtic board spend that amount of money.”
How much money Celtic made from 2024/25 Champions League
Celtic won’t be lacking in cash come the summer 2025 transfer window after a fantastic Champions League campaign this season.
It was the first time the Hoops reached a Champions League knockout tie since 2013 when Neil Lennon’s team faced off against Juventus.
67 Hail Hail calculated that Celtic have earned more than £38m in UEFA prize money this season, but the total from being in the Champions League could top £50m due to ticket sales and commercial income.
That will go straight into Celtic’s bank balance, which was revealed to be worth a whopping £65.4m to the period ending June 30, 2024.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
