BRENDAN RODGERS wants Greg Taylor tied down on a new deal before other clubs get a chance to pounce.
The Celtic left-back is out of contract at the end of the season and could sign a pre-contract in January if an extension isn’t thrashed out.
But Rodgers remains keen to hold on to the Scotland cap and admits it has to be sorted soon.
The Hoops boss said: “I hope that’s the case because there comes a point where both sides have to understand what we’re thinking.
“If it’s not going to happen then, OK, we know that. We can then plan and prepare going forwards. But I really hope it doesn’t get to that because I love working with Greg.
“He’s played about 186 games here. I can’t tell you how influential he is off the pitch and how good he’s been on the pitch for this club with his consistency and within how we play.
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“I really hope we can do something. I really, really like him. He’s such a good guy. He loves being here.
“He’s a big voice in the changing room. Every single day in training, he’s so good. He’s focused.
“He’s just married and he will be a father later in the year as well.
“We want him to really settle down and get everything ready for him.
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“I just want to continue working with him for as long as I possibly can.”
Taylor, who joined from Kilmarnock in 2019, saw on-loan Barcelona starlet Alex Valle get a chance to shine while he was injured last month, with the Spaniard also starting the cup win over Aberdeen.
But on Tuesday night, as he celebrated turning 27, Taylor was the one chosen to face RB Leipzig in the Champions League glare and he didn’t let his manager down.
Rodgers said: “Greg is a specialist in what he does for us and you see the flow of the team. We’ve got different solutions to get through and he’s a massive part of that.
“You saw his importance the other night. The possibility of having two quality players in each position is what you saw.
“We played Alex in the semi, he did fantastically well. Tuesday night was a different game, with what we wanted from it.
“I could bring Greg in and you saw the level he played at, how clean he was, how bright he was, how well he defended, how well he attacked.
“He’s someone I see as a big part of what we’re looking to continue here and I hope over the coming months we can do that.”
Celts right-back Alistair Johnston, 26, looks set to pen a bumper contract beyond his current one which runs until 2027.
Rodgers said: “He’s a player we’d want to tie down and an absolutely fantastic guy to work with.”
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Auston Trusty and Cameron Carter-Vickers did indoor work and Rodgers said: “They weren’t training, but that was precautionary.
“We had two tough, physical games in four days so they just did some light work and we’ll see how they are on Saturday.”
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