Five players could leave Celtic this summer with their contracts expiring at the end of June – Dedryck Boyata, Mikael Lustig, Emilio Izaguirre, Cristian Gamboa, Dorus de Vries.
Boyata tried to leave Celtic at the start of the season and his agent has confirmed he won’t sign a contract extension to stay at Parkhead past this summer. It’s a blow as he’s been an important player when fit.
Lustig is another player who has been a regular this season but could be on his way out in the coming months. The 32-year-old has been at Celtic for seven years, making 265 appearances in all competitions, and has expressed a desire to extend his deal past the summer.
Izaguirre re-joined the club on a one-year deal at the start of the season but may not be retained for another campaign as he’ll turn 33 in May. The defender has been a regular in recent weeks, but Kieran Tierney’s return from injury is likely to keep him out of the starting eleven.
Gambao looks destined to leave when the campaign comes to a close. The 29-year-old has spent the season on the periphery, making only one Premiership appearance, and will go down as somewhat of a Celtic flop. After making 17 league appearances in his debut season at Parkhead, Gamboa featured in only three top-flight outings in the two years that followed.
De Vries was only signed as backup, but he finds himself as the third-choice between the sticks so his future is uncertain. The 38-year-old hasn’t made an appearance this season so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was allowed to run his deal down in the coming months.
The Hoops have worked incredibly hard over the last 12 months to extend the contracts of key players, tying down the likes of Scott Bain (May 10, 2018), Kristoffer Ajer (May 14), Tom Rogic (May 17), Leigh Griffiths (September 14), James Forrest (September 28), Olivier Ntcham (November 9), Ryan Christie (November 12), Mikey Johnston (November 20), Callum McGregor (December 20) and Scott Brown (January 31, 2019), but Rodgers has work to do to convince Boyata not to leave.
Stats from Transfermarkt.
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