With Brendan Rodgers just getting his feet under the table at Celtic Park for the second time in his career, it seems that he is wasting no time in finding out which players are on board with his new project.
Speculation has been surrounding a number of players over the last few weeks and it has certainly ramped up a notch especially since Ange Postecoglou left for Spurs.
Kyogo and Reo Hatate have been tipped as two players who Postecoglou may come back to Celtic for but with Furuhashi’s latest comments that was discussed earlier on 67 Hail Hail, it looks like the Japanese star is set to stay for the season ahead.
One play who may not be staying is Liel Abada. According to The Daily Mail (print edition page 70), the little Israeli winger has turned down a new contract and is looking to leave the club.
The report also says that Brendan Rodgers is looking to meet with ‘a number’ of Celtic players before they fly out for the Asian Tour next month.
This is a surprising turn of events. It wasn’t too long ago Abada was telling us that he was happy at Celtic and was looking forward to winning his place back in the team.
Of course, a lot has changed since then. The departure of Ange Postecoglou will most likely play a part in Abada’s decision to turn down a new contract.
The positive thing about this for Celtic is that Abada still has three years left to run on his contract. And at just 21 years old, the club can hold out for top dollar for one of the best players on their books.
Abada has been a brilliant player for Celtic over the past two seasons. In 101 appearances for the club, he has scored 28 goals and created 20 assists. And even though he spent most of the season on the bench last season, his goal and assists return never waned.
With two league titles, one Scottish Cup and two League Cups under his belt, maybe Abada feels he has achieved all he can at the club.
But could the lure of one more shot at the Champions League under a new manager be enough to tempt him to stay beyond the summer? I’m sure we will find out in the coming weeks.
In other news, Yang Hyun-jun makes his Celtic transfer intentions clear
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