Celtic have a number of young talents within their academy right now.
Brendan Rodgers has a good track record of working with and improving young players and Celtic fans will be hoping that he can work his magic a second time around the club.
The Celtic Academy has a few of these players currently out on loan as talents like Matthew Anderson and Ben Summers gain valuable first-team experience out on loan.
But it is a teenager who is highly rated by Brendan Rodgers who has revealed that before he signed for Celtic, Rangers tried to tempt him.
Celtic talent Francis Turley said ‘no chance’ to Rangers
Francis Turley first burst on the scene with an excellent performance for Celtic B against Queens Park last season.
Rodgers then took the youngster on the USA Summer Tour, where ‘excellent’ Turley also impressed the Hoops boss, but it seems that before he signed for the Hoops, Rangers also tried to get a hold of him.
Turley told The Belfast Telegraph: “Everyone from where I am from supported Celtic so signing for them was a bit mad.
“I had a few options, a few in Scotland — Aberdeen and Rangers — and a few in England — Ipswich, Burnley and others.
“But I wanted the Celtic move to work out. Rangers wasn’t going to happen, no chance.
“I’m living my boyhood dream, my family support Celtic and now I’m at the club.
“I’m living my boyhood dream, my family support Celtic and now I’m at the club. As a Celtic fan I knew how big the club is and how passionate the fans are.
“Hopefully, we will win the League soon and I will keep training hard and hopefully get a few more opportunities this season. I’d like to get on a few times, we will see what happens.”
What Brendan Rodgers has said about Francis Turley at Celtic
Rodgers has given a few Celtic youngsters their first-team debuts over the last two seasons but after Turley’s short cameo in the Hoops’ win at St Mirren last season, the Parkhead boss was impressed with the young ‘talent’.
Rodgers said: “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.”
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