New Rodgers Celtic deal a 'sure' thing as £10m investment slides into view (2025)

Could Rodgers pen a new deal and stay at Celtic beyond his current deal which expires in 2026?

Stiliyan Petrov reckons Celtic would be silly to even consider letting Brendan Rodgers walk away – as he heaped praise on the boss for his 'clever' plea to the board for summer reinforcements.

Rodgers is out of contract next summer but has been keen to play down any potential exit chatter, saying he'll honour the entirety of his three-year deal as he promised when he returned to the club.

The Irishman still has work to do this season and next before considering his options beyond that but club hero Petrov would like to see him offered a new deal. In fact, he's 'sure' they will be.

Petrov said: “He’s done a great job. I think it will be silly from the board not to continue with Brendan. So far, he hasn’t given any reasons for the board or the fans to think anything else.

“If the team finishes with a treble this year and a good European campaign, you have to look at that, and I’m sure that the board is looking into it because he’s Celtic through and through and he’s a great manager. He knows the club inside out, he knows the players as well now, and he’s got the opportunity to add his own players that he feels can help the team develop.

Rodgers said earlier this month that he wants to inject some 'freshness' into the squad this summer and a minor overhaul could be on the cards.

And Petrov reckons that was a clever choice of words from the boss as he said: “It was really clever from a strong manager asking for players. I think with the new format of European football, Brendan feels that if he had more quality, more good players, then he can do even more in European football.

“We all remember that when Brendan came to the club, he was talking about the European adventures, that he wanted to achieve a lot more with Celtic in Europe, so that will be his intention.

“I don’t think he worries about domestically, he has a strong team, good players, healthy squad and he’s quite happy with that (for Scottish football). But I think with his comments, he tried to challenge the board, and now the board needs to answer. What they have to do is just go and spend money.

“I’m sure that Celtic will do that because what I’ve seen over the year, their recruitment has been really good. The development of the players has been great.”

One of the players that could well be on Rodgers' agenda to that end is Stoke City winger Million Manhoef.

Reports over the weekend put the Dutch wide-man forward as an option for Rodgers who is looking to strengthen in the wide positions.

The 23-year-old has six goals and four assists to his name this season and EFL Analysis say Stoke want £10m for his services.

That seems on the steep side for a player Stoke paid around £3m for a year ago, but with four other clubs – Burnley and Sheffield United as well as Genk and Club Brugge – interested, they may feel confident they can drive up the price.

Elsewhere the Premiership post-split fixtures were announced today with Celtic given the chance to win the title in the very first game back – away to Dundee United in the lunchtime kickoff.

You can see the Hoops' full run of fixtures here.