Revealed: The Celtic player at the heart of acrimony between Brendan Rodgers and board
Brendan Rodgers is on course to leave Celtic at the end of the 2025-26 season with his contract set to expire.
Sources told Football Insider on 13 September that contracts talks between Celtic and Rodgers collapsed after a serious lack of investment.
Moreover, Celtic missed out on Champions League football which highlighted the club’s mistake in not backing the Northern Irishman over the summer.
Worryingly for the Hoops, Football Insider exclusively revealed that Premier League clubs are monitoring Rodgers’ situation at Celtic as he looks destined to leave Glasgow.
Sebastien Tounetki transfer delay reflects Celtic hierarchy’s lethargy
As I revealed on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the former Leicester City boss is growing increasingly impatient with the evident lack of faith from the Bhoys’ hierarchy.
Celtic fans were angered by the club’s sluggishness in signing Sebastian Tounetki after they were knocked out of the Champions League.
The Tunisian wasn’t brought in until transfer deadline day and has impressed, yet Rodgers will feel he should’ve been signed far sooner which sums up the negative trajectory of the Hoops at the moment.
Speaking on the Inside Track podcast, I explained: “If things were to tail off on the pitch as well, that would really ramp up the pressure, I think, on the Celtic board.
“You can understand Brendan Rodgers’ frustration. We know that he was looking at backing in the transfer window to sort of move Celtic forward and to ensure that they did build on their success in the Champions League last season.
“That obviously didn’t work out when they had that surprise, disappointing defeat to Kairat Almaty and not qualifying in the Champions League was a huge blow for everybody involved with the club.
“Again, he was frustrated that they weren’t able to bring in Tounetki for those games because he could have been a potential difference maker for them.
“He’s made a good impact so far Tounetki and that’ll be the frustration for Rodgers saying: ‘why couldn’t we get him in probably at the start of the window when he could have come in and had a huge impact for Celtic rather than being brought in on deadline [day]’.
“Brendan Rodgers, he has asked for backing. He didn’t really get it in the summer window. And when he did, he got it a bit too late.
“So it’s going to be interesting to see what does happen long-term with Brendan Rodgers and his future.”
Daizen Maeda sale the key to January transfer plans
Sources told Football Insider on 15 September that Rodgers is trying everything to keep Daizen Maeda at Celtic.
The Japan international is intrigued by the possibility of playing his football away from Glasgow and his exit would be far from ideal.
Although, Aberdeen’s former chief Keith Wyness exclusively told Football Insider on 12 September that Celtic should sell Maeda in order to recoup vital funds.
If the Hoops can charge a fair price for the winger, Rodgers would have more cash to spend in the January transfer window.
Adding more players in the upcoming transfer window will be key in attempting to persuade the Northern Irishman to stay at Celtic Park.