Brendan Rodgers in honest Celtic confession over Matt O'Riley future as boss senses change is in the air

Brendan Rodgers admits he doesn’t know if star man Matt O’Riley will commit to signing a new Celtic contract.

O’Riley is in talks with club bosses about putting pen to paper on a bumper extension following a raft of new deals for the likes of skipper Callum McGregor, strikers Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda and winger Liel Abada. Anthony Ralston and Stephen Welsh have also signed up with midfielder Reo Hatate on the verge of becoming the latest stalwart to secure his long term future in Glasgow’s east end.

Rodgers is desperate for O’Riley to follow suit and the manager revealed he played a key role in booting out a £10m bid for the Danish international from Leeds United during the summer transfer window. But, when asked if he planned on making O’Riley a cornerstone of his team for years to come the Parkhead boss said: “I would love to - but we have been here before haven’t we? This is the beauty of me coming back.

"The experience tells me when players are at a certain point. He is in his third year now. I said to him in pre-season, ‘I can make you a better player and improve you as a player’. But naturally what happens at Celtic is that you improve and develop and then, you know….

“I am not wishing him out the door of course. But he is 22 years of age. Funny enough I was talking to Kasper Hjulmund, the Danish national manager, about him the other day. I was giving a report on him and I know Kasper well from dealing with the Danish players I had at Leicester - we have a good relationship.

“I was telling him that from the outside Matt is totally different from when you are inside working with him. So I just think he needs to keep doing what he is doing.

“Of course we want to keep him here, we would love to keep him here,