Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers may now face a fight on his hands to keep hold of a key first-team man in January as he aims to retain the Scottish Premiership title, according to a report.
Celtic remain unbeaten in the Scottish Premiership…
Celtic ended the weekend with their eight-point advantage over Rangers at the summit of the Scottish Premiership intact despite falling to a late 1-1 draw against Motherwell at Parkhead, with Jonathan Obika's injury time goal cancelling out a David Turnbull penalty that looked to have gave the Hoops all three points.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Rodgers indicated his annoyance that his side weren't able to see another victory over the line, as he stated to BBC Sport: "A draw at home always feels like a defeat. We're disappointed. We had enough opportunities to win the game, over 80% possession. We didn't create as much as we'd like but the chances we had should have been enough."
Nevertheless, Rangers couldn't capitalise on their rivals' failure to win over Motherwell in their trip to Pittodrie on Sunday, as they laboured to a 1-1 draw of their own against Aberdeen to leave it as you were regarding the points gap in the divisional standings.
Recording 11 victories and three draws in their opening 14 league encounters is by all means a decent start by Celtic; however, they will be keen to strike up some momentum in the next few weeks as the festive period offers up a hectic fixture schedule for all involved.
Celtic's next five fixtures – all competitions
Competition
Opponent
Venue
Champions League
Lazio (A)
Stadio Olimpico
Scottish Premiership
St Johnstone (A)
McDiarmid Park
Scottish Premiership
Hibernian (H)
Celtic Park
Scottish Premiership
Kilmarnock (A)
Rugby Park
Champions League
Feyenoord (H)
Celtic Park
Looking ahead to January, one of the Hoops' star men is now attracting interest from elsewhere, which could leave Rodgers in a precarious position unless he manages to tie the man in question down in Glasgow's east end.
Anderlecht want Liam Scales
According to Football Scotland, Belgian giants Anderlecht are keen on Celtic defender Liam Scales and have scouted the Republic of Ireland international extensively over recent weeks.
The outlet claim that Anderlecht are considering making a bid in January for the former Aberdeen loanee, who has 18 months left on his contract at Parkhead. Nevertheless, Celtic are keen to nail him down to an extension after his impressive start to life this campaign.
Initially coming in to combat an injury crisis at Parkhead, Scales has established himself as a mainstay under Rodgers, making 15 appearances in all competitions and notching a single assist in the process (Scales statistics – Transfermarkt).
Billed as "fantastic" by former Celtic goalkeeper Patrick Bonnar, Scales has managed to average around 4.1 successful clearances, 1.4 challenges and 1.1 interceptions per match in the Scottish Premiership across 2023/24 (Scales statistics – WhoScored).
Scheduled to be out of contract in the summer of 2025, Celtic must do whatever they can to keep Scales around at Parkhead as he continues to thrive at the Scottish champions.
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