Celtic Manager Rodgers Eyes Strong Finish to Champions League Group Stage
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers praises his team's Champions League qualification, but warns that their job is not yet complete, as they face Aston Villa without key players.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is eager to bring Arsenal full-back Kieran Tierney back to Glasgow before the end of the January transfer window. Tierney, 27, is set to return to Celtic on a free transfer in the summer when his contract with Arsenal expires. However, Rodgers is pushing to expedite the process and bring Tierney back to Celtic Park sooner.
Rodgers acknowledged that while a summer transfer is already agreed upon, he would like to bring Tierney on board before the window closes next week. “I think we're agreed that it will definitely take place in the summer. If we can do it beforehand, then great,” Rodgers said on Tuesday. He exercised caution in discussing the potential transfer, noting that Tierney is still an Arsenal player.
Matchday 8️⃣#AstonVillaCeltic | #UCL | #CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/gcmV2kz0i3
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) January 29, 2025
Tierney's playing time at Arsenal has been limited this season, but he has seen more action this month due to an injury crisis at the club. Despite this, he has fallen down the pecking order under Mikel Arteta, making a return to Celtic a likely outcome. Rodgers is hopeful that a deal can be reached to bring Tierney back to Celtic sooner rather than later.
Celtic Eye Strong Finish to Champions League Group Stage
Despite already securing a spot in the Champions League play-off round, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers emphasized that his team's work is far from over. Ahead of their visit to Aston Villa on Wednesday, Rodgers noted, “It's a great achievement to be in the top 24, I think, if you look at the economics at this level.” He praised his players' hard work, saying, “The players have worked very, very hard and do what we set out to do, which was to firstly arrive in the play-offs, the players have done that. So it's great.”
Rodgers cautioned that Celtic's job is not yet complete in the group stage, stressing the importance of performing well against Aston Villa. “But our job's not complete in this series of eight games. We come here to a great venue. It's a fantastic team, but we want to come and play to the level that we know we can do,” he said. However, Celtic will be without three key players from the team that secured qualification by beating Young Boys last week. Kyogo Furuhashi has departed for Rennes, Daizen Maeda is suspended, and Cameron Carter-Vickers is injured.
📰 Brendan Rodgers: We'll set out to win the game against Aston Villa
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) January 29, 2025
💬 "For us, it’s a great achievement to be in the top 24. I think if you look at the economics of it all and at this level, the players have been fantastic."#AstonVillaCeltic | #UCL | #CelticFC🍀
Rodgers expressed his appreciation for Kyogo's contributions to Celtic, saying, “He's been a real iconic player for the club, he's done brilliantly during his time.” However, with Kyogo's departure, Rodgers is focused on finding a suitable replacement before the end of the transfer window. “It's about getting a replacement, he did a great job, but he wanted to leave. We have known for a number of months. Clearly, we wouldn't have wanted to sell him but he made it clear he wanted to move and when that's the case, we have to find the best solution for the club,” Rodgers explained.
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