Brendan Rodgers has kind words for Benjamin Siegrist as manager confirms Celtic exit is coming

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Benjamin Siegrist is heading for the Celtic exit door after Brendan Rodgers confirmed he is set to seek regular football elsewhere.

Reports broke over the weekend that Siegrist is heading to Romania to go through final negotiations with Rapid Bucharest.

They are now managed by Celtic legend Neil Lennon. He’s cast his eye to those on the fringe of the Bhoys squad to boost his starting options.

Siegrist only managed to make two appearances in total during his time at Celtic as he played deputy to popular goalkeeper Joe Hart. He hasn’t had any minutes since Rodgers returned.

With Kasper Schmeichel and Viljami Sinisalo coming into the club last week, there’s no more room for the Swiss player, who wasn’t included in the squad for the current USA tour.

Brendan Rodgers pays tribute to ‘first class’ Siegrist

The Bhoys boss said [Daily Record]: “It’s fair to say that with Benji, he’ll be looking to move on. He’s been a really professional guy.

“His spirit, he’d done well at United and come into Celtic and maybe wanted to play more. When he didn’t, and I can only speak for my year with him, he was exemplary.

“His professionalism, everything about him was first class. And when I spoke last season, we thought that probably for him, in this part of his career, he needed to go and play. So I believe that will be the case and he will move on.”

Siegrist departure is best for all parties

Clearly, Siegrist didn’t have a future at Celtic. To be honest, that became pretty obvious a while ago. Getting him off the wage bill and developing some new talent in Sinisalo is a positive for the club.

It should be a good thing for the player, too, if he finds the right team. That may not even end up being in Romania but Rodgers’ comments make it clear he won’t be at Lennoxtown for too much longer.

Siegrist’s spell at Dundee United indicated Celtic would get a solid squad option with his recruitment and that transpired, but if he wants to play week-to-week football then fair play to him.