Archive September 12, 2025

Brendan Rodgers has said he would “100%” be open to extending his Celtic contract despite being left feeling “empty” following an underwhelming summer transfer window.

The Parkhead manager has made no secret of his frustration at the club’s failure to improve the squad before they crashed out of the Champions League play-offs to Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty.

However, speaking on Friday for the first time since the window closed, he said he was “hopeful” of extending his deal – if the conditions were right.

Asked if he felt let down by the club’s inability to back him, Rodgers said: “It’s not about me.

“I want Celtic to be the very best that it can be. My ambition is for the club, for our supporters, for the players.

“It’s not a personal thing for me. I can only do my very best to improve what it is we need to improve. Whatever situation I’m in, I will then look to be the very best that I can be.

“The first time I was here, I probably left because of that [frustration at lack of backing]. But I won’t be doing that this time. Absolutely no chance – 100%.

“My duty is to be here and help the team, the squad, the club get back again and moving on.”

Frustration has grown among Celtic fans over a lack of reinforcements, particularly in attack.

Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn have both left, while Jota’s returned has been scuppered by injury.

Signings have been made, but Benjamin Nygren has really been the only one to have any sort of impact.

Asked if a window that Rodgers admitted “could have been better for us” had made him ponder quitting, he added: “It didn’t. It didn’t make me think to walk away. I just felt empty, if I’m honest.

“It was a long process and the weight is on your shoulders when you’re here, carrying everything. When it doesn’t quite go the way you want, then of course you have an empty feeling.

“But then you know as one of the leaders of the club and particularly the manager of the team, you’ve got to get your head around it and you’ve got to deal with it and then you’ve got to try to maximise what you have.”

When pressed on whether this summer had influenced his thinking with regard to remaining at the club beyond this season, Rodgers said: “No, it hasn’t really changed from the last time.

“I would love to stay here longer. I’ve had informal chats with Dermot [Desmond, the majority shareholder] and Michael [Nicholson, chief executive].

“I haven’t had an offer yet to think over and until that comes then I’m not going to be so arrogant to say, ‘yeah, I want to be here for another three years’. The club might not want me here.”

He added: “If not, then it’s maybe just there’s two philosophies that don’t quite add up and I also accept that.

Altay Bayindir will retain his place in goal for Manchester United in Sunday’s derby against neighbours City – but head coach Ruben Amorim says new arrival Senne Lammens has potential to be first choice “for a number of years”.

United signed Lammens, 23, for £18.1m from Belgium top-flight club Royal Antwerp on deadline day in preference to World Cup winner Emi Martinez, who was ready to leave Aston Villa.

With Andre Onana leaving for Turkish outfit Trabzonspor on loan, it has created uncertainty over the status Amorim’s current number one.

Bayindir has started all three Premier League games so far this season – making mistakes that led to goals against Arsenal and Burnley – and will retain the job at Etihad Stadium.

However, Amorim thinks Lammens offers plenty of promise.

“He has great potential to be our goalkeeper for a number of years,” he said.

“Sometimes as a club, you try to see different options. We are in a moment where the goalkeeper needs to be really strong and have a lot of experience.

“But as well as looking at the present, we must have a focus on the future.”

Although Bayindir, 27, only made his Premier League debut in April, he has played 10 times for Turkey and has vastly more experience than Lammens, who had had just one season as a top-flight regular.

It makes the decision to let Bayindir continue relatively straightforward.

“It is a different league, different country, different ball,” said Amorim. “Altay is going to continue.”

Onana has more experience than anyone else, including winning a Serie A title with Inter Milan and playing in a Champions League final defeat by Manchester City in 2023.

Yet at United, the Cameroon international has not looked confident.

He was injured at the start of pre-season training this summer and made mistakes that led to both Grimsby goals as United lost to a fourth-tier outfit for the first time in the EFL Cup last month, beaten on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

That game proved to be the end for Onana. He is unlikely to return to the club once his loan expires at the end of the season, even though his United contract runs to 2028.

“The quality is there but at this club the pressure is so hard in every detail, sometimes you need a change,” said Amorim.

“It’s hard to point why. It’s the performance, the moments, the bad luck. It is hard on him and hard on us.

“I wish the best for Andre but sometimes, you can have all the quality in the world but you need to change the environment to return to your level.

Mason Mount, Matheus Cunha and Diogo Dalot will all miss the trip to Etihad Stadium through injury, Amorim said.

Cunha picked up a hamstring injury in the first half of the 3-2 win against Burnley on 30 August, when Mount failed to reappear for the second period. Dalot pulled out of Portugal’s World Cup qualifiers this month after experiencing muscular discomfort.

Amorim was reluctant to be specific as to how long the trio would be out for.

Manchester United have had at least one graduate from their academy in every first-team matchday squad since 1937.

That is an impressive record and one the club use to prove their commitment to youth development.

Yet Kobbie Mainoo was the only academy player in Ruben Amorim’s squad for the win against Burnley immediately before the international break and the England midfielder went into the last days of the transfer window having told United he wanted a loan move away.

That request was not granted. But without Mainoo, for whatever reason, that record is in peril.

There are other players who fit the bill; including veteran goalkeeper Tom Heaton and young defender Tyler Fredericson.

Amorim has to deliver a winning team – but would only wreck the record if he has no choice.

“We want to maintain it,” he said. “The past of Manchester United is built on kids.

Everton boss David Moyes says Jack Grealish’s Premier League’s Player of the Month award for August is “just the start” for the winger.

The England international, who turned 30 on Wednesday, has made an instant impact with the Toffees since joining on a season-long loan from Manchester City.

Grealish has registered four assists from two league starts – wins over Brighton and Wolves – after coming on as a substitute in Everton’s season opener at Leeds.

That is two assists more than any other player three games into the new Premier League season.

“I’m really pleased for him. You’d have to say it’s a big privilege to be given that accolade and I’m pleased for him because everybody knows he’s back again,” Moyes told a news conference.

“It’s nothing down to me, it’s down to Jack Grealish. He’s looked after himself and worked incredibly hard.

“He’s come back with the right mindset to produce and he has produced for us. He’s made a big difference. It’s just the start for Jack.”

After making his Premier League debut for Aston Villa in May 2014, Grealish has now made 193 appearances in the competition and won the title three times with Manchester City.

Before joining Everton, he had provided two assists in the same Premier League game only twice before.

Grealish is the first Everton player to record multiple assists in consecutive Premier League matches and has the chance to be the first to do so in three when the Toffees host his former club Villa on Saturday at 15:00 BST.

He topped an eight-man shortlist after a public vote combined with those of a panel of football experts.

Moyes said it was a “big motivation” for Grealish to break back into the England team before next summer’s World Cup and his performances in the early part of the season have “put a marker down”.

“I don’t pick the England team and I’m glad I don’t because there’s so many good players,” added the Everton boss.

Life at Everton couldn’t be much better for Grealish. After admitting he fell out of love with football, he’s begun a new romance with the Toffees.

The feeling is clearly mutual. Everton would be open to signing him permanently when his loan ends and believe his price tag could drop considerably.

Manchester City have a rough value of £50m but this is unlikely to be the real cost come next summer.

By then the midfielder would be almost 31 and have just a year left on his deal.

The feeling around Blues bosses is they can negotiate a low figure and hang on to their newest hero if he continues to impress.

It’s felt Grealish only had eyes for Everton early on in the transfer window, even when Moyes initially told him he would have to start on the bench.