As the news filtered through of the immediate suspension of Scottish football on Friday, Celtic supporters around the world would have been pondering exactly what it means.
We won’t see Neil Lennon’s glorious team in action for a couple of weeks at least. When they return it could be in front of no fans, with games potentially continuing behind closed doors.
Will the Premiership table finish as it currently stands? Will it be declared null and void? Will it creep on into the summer with Euro 2020 moved? So many questions, but so few answers.
However, one of the very real questions that will have to be asked, in the event of a season extension, is what happens to the players only contracted at the club until the summer.
Elyounoussi and Forster uncertainty
There are seven current stars who come under this bracket (as per transfermarkt.co.uk).
Permanent players Jonny Hayes, Craig Gordon and Calvin Miller are all out of contract in the summer – on the 31st of May to be precise.
If the league was to be extended into June, would those players be allowed to be kept on? Or could they move regardless of the league situation?
Furthermore, we have four loan players currently on our books.
The most prominent of them – Fraser Forster and Mohamed Elyounoussi – are both due back at Southampton at the end of the season.
Elyounoussi’s loan deal is said to expire on May 31st while Forster’s is up on the final day of June.
Moritz Bauer and Daniel Arzani are in similar positions, although you can’t imagine that either would be too keen to stick around in Glasgow longer than they have to – given their recent playing time.
Added to this, the summer transfer window is scheduled to re-open on June 9th.
So could we still be rounding off our league campaign as we try to recruit for the following league season?
There are so many questions at present, and we can only hope they will be cleared up in due course by the relevant governing bodies.
These are unprecedented times we are living in. Both on and off the park.
How do you think an extended season would pan out? Let us know your thoughts below and join our newly launched fans discussion forum…
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