One member of the Celtic squad has publicly shared how excited he is by the speculation linking Brendan Rodgers with a return to the club – Mikey Johnston.
The winger, who has spent the season out on loan in Portugal, was speaking to journalists this week on international duty with the Republic of Ireland squad. He’s relishing the chance to potentially work with Rodgers again – the man who gave him his debut with the Bhoys.
He said [Scottish Sun]: “Definitely. He gave me my debut and every player will love the guy who gave them their debut won’t they? But he’s a great manager and if he came back to Celtic he would be unreal.
“It’s a clean slate at Celtic as there will be a new manager, so I could be back there. It’s the club I’ve always supported, I’d like to give it another go. But we just have to wait and see what happens. Whatever I do next year I want to play every game.
“It was a tough year and it was a high level and I performed pretty well. I feel like I’ve learned so much in the year. When you play for Celtic, you’ve got the ball all the time and you’re attacking. My club, we had the ball a lot, but not always because there were four bigger teams, three in Champions League as well.
“So there were probably eight games where you were testing yourself against them when you didn’t have the ball as much and just, tactically, I learned so much.”
Brendan Rodgers can improve Celtic players
Rodgers hasn’t yet been officially announced as the new Celtic manager but is widely reported to have agreed to take on the challenge. It’s expected confirmation will come over the next few days.
One of the hallmarks of his first stint in charge was improving players across the squad he inherited. Callum McGregor, James Forrest and more all flourished under his watch.
Johnston will be hoping he can follow a similar path when he returns from his loan. He clearly states he wants to be playing regularly but he’ll at least be given a chance over the summer to earn a spot in the squad moving forward. It’s little surprise he is so excited by regime change, having struggled to make an impact under Ange Postecoglou.
In other news, Martin O’Neill delivers verdict on Brendan Rodgers Celtic return.
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