Brendan Rodgers shares his plans for Francis Turley after teenager makes Celtic debut

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Francis Turley became the latest player to make his competitive Celtic debut on Sunday.

The 18-year-old made a late cameo as a substitute in the 3-0 Scottish Premiership win over St Mirren, taking a step forward after involvement with the squad during summer pre-season friendlies.

Turley signed a new contract with the club earlier this month and it appears that commitment is a factor in Brendan Rodgers putting time into his development.

The manager has praised his family for putting faith in the club to help him progress as a player. Now it seems the midfielder is set for continued exposure to the senior set-up, rather than being moved out on loan.

Celtic boss doesn’t want too much hype around Francis Turley

Asked whether he’ll be staying at the Bhoys or switching elsewhere for the season, Rodgers said [Celtic Way]: “I think he needs to stay. I was really impressed with him over the course of pre-season. He still has a lot of maturation and I think that what we don’t need to do is put a lot of hype into a young 18-year-old. Just take your time.

“He’s a talent and we’ve seen talents leave here because they’re impatient. I don’t see that, being with Francis now over the summer, he signed a new deal and had his family in. They trust the club, which is important in his development.

“So, for me, it’s given that hope to the young players that they have a place here. He still has so much physical development to come, but technically, he’s very good in the game.

“That just gives him that bit more oxygen and that feeling of being out there for Celtic. But he knows himself he’s got a lot of work to do. But that’s why he’s here.”

Turley now part of Brendan Rodgers’ youth pledge

Earlier this year, Rodgers stated it was one of his aims to have a more functional pathway from the Celtic Academy to the first team. It’s been a long time since a youngster has made a sustained breakthrough into the starting eleven.

Turley looks to be one of the first signs of that now happening. The manager did give time to Rocco Vata and Daniel Kelly but they both decided to move on elsewhere.

The manager is making it clear he has a lot of development to do to get to the required level, but keeping the Northern Ireland youth international involved as a substitute and giving him minutes when possible will motivate him to keep pushing at Celtic. Hopefully, it pays off over time.