All the excitement over Celtic offering new deals to the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Callum McGregor did two things over the last two weeks.
For one, it offset the disappointment of losing Portuguese winger Jota to Al-Ittihad and secondly, it put to bed the speculation that former Celtic manager, Ange Postecoglou could look north as an option to strengthen his Spurs side.
And now, the Celtic fans are wondering who is next on Brendan Rodgers’ contract list. Many would like to see Reo Hatate offered a new deal. 67 Hail Hail discussed this week that the Japanese international should be first in the queue to be given improved terms.
With Brighton credited with interest and Spurs also tipped to be looking at Hatate, a new contract would help stop the speculation and allow the midfielder to concentrate on the season ahead under Brendan Rodgers.
Cameron Carter-Vickers is another that the Celtic fans may well love to see being offered a new deal but with the US international contracted to 2026, that one may well be unlikely to happen.
But there is one player that no one has mentioned as being worthy of an improved contract and that is Greg Taylor.
Signed as a replacement for Kieran Tierney, the former Kilmarnock left-back had huge huge boots to fill. And it’s fair to say he struggled to make an impact in his first two seasons at the club.
But after the arrival of Ange Postecoglou, Taylor flourished and he has been an absolute mainstay as Celtic wrapped up five out of six trophies.
Alexandro Bernabei was brought in to challenge Taylor for the left-back position last season but that just seemed to spur him on to continue to produce excellent performances as Cetic dominated the domestic scene.
He made 43 appearances for Celtic last season which is one of the highest in the squad. Interestingly, he was rested for the 3-0 Glasgow Derby defeat to Rangers and the 4-2 away defeat to Hibs towards the end of the season.
Now we can all argue and say that the league was over and these games did not matter, but it was clear that his engine and aggression were missed in both defeats.
Taylor’s current contract runs until the end of May 2025. This would be the ideal time to get him tied down and not allow his current deal to reach its final year. His transfer value would depreciate but, more importantly, an extension would be a huge boost to his confidence and send him a message that he is valued by the new Celtic manager.
Hopefully as the weeks progress and Rodgers sees more of Taylor, the Celtic boss will give a new deal the green light to make sure one of the most popular players in the dressing room and the fans sticks around for many more years to come.
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