Celtic news bulletin as Daniel Kelly 'rejects' contract offer and 3 irreplaceable stars named before Rangers
Daniel Kelly has reportedly REJECTED an initial contract offer from Celtic - but he remains in talks over a new deal.
Brendan Rodgers has bedded in the youngster as part of his top team squad this season and he grabbed his first senior goal back in February in a thumping 7-1 win over Dundee. The 18-year-old has made four appearances in the Premiership and two in the Scottish Cup as the Hoops go into a crunch couple of weeks to try and beat Rangers to both trophies in a blockbuster climax.
Sky Sports report that both parties are still keen to agree terms despite the initial knock back with his current deal up at the end of the year. That means he could enter into pre-contract talks with other clubs in the summer. Speaking about the youngster in March, Rodgers said: "I've been very impressed. I think it's one of my key tasks here is to try and provide a pathway for our young talents and players to come through into the first-team, so his attitude, commitment, qualities he has, I think he's got a very bright future.
"I've been really pleased for him. Him and Rocco Vata have both been training about for a period of time and have both shown up really well. Daniel's had the opportunity more than Rocco has but both players have shown quality and more importantly, for me, as young players they're showing that willingness to learn and develop and improve. Both players I think have been in talks with the club, but I don't really have any update on that."
Meanwhile, Stephen McGinn has named three Celtic players who make the champions a "totally different side" when fit and firing. He conceded when the trio are not available - the drop off in performance is huge.
The Falkirk skipper has described the three men as irreplaceable for Rodgers. They are bound to play a key role this coming weekend as Celtic take on Rangers in massive title showdown at the Scottish Premiership summit.
A key moment from the Celtic captain against Hearts also caught the eye of pundit McGinn, and he reckons that it showed he could be back to full fitness in a major boost for the champions. He told the Scottish Football podcast: "One of the big worries has been keeping your key players fit. Guys like McGregor, Hatate and Carter-Vickers. When they are all in the team fully firing they are a totally different side. The drop off to the bench players, no disrespect, is huge.
"They are irreplaceable for Celtic. Watching the highlights last night one of the biggest cheers was Callum McGregor making that big recovery run [vs Hearts] because the last fixture - next week could obviously be a bit of league decider - at Celtic Park, Callum McGregor ran the show. He obviously wasn't fully fit for the last game so to show that speed and to show that he might be back to full fitness was a massive boost for Celtic."