Brendan Rodgers says that any thoughts about his long-term Celtic future are on the backburner, with no conversations having yet taken place between the manager and the club over extending his contract beyond next summer.
Rodgers says he is as content as he has ever been as Celtic boss, and with his side on course for a domestic treble and having impressed in the Champions League – particularly as they came so close to forcing Bayern Munich to extra time in Germany on Tuesday night – there have been calls for the board to sit down with the 52-year-old and explore the possibility of extending his current deal.
But Rodgers is putting his own personal situation to the back of his mind as his team look to close out the season.
“To be fair, we've not really had any conversation around that,” Rodgers said.
“I think that we look at what's the very best thing for Celtic, above any individual. It will always be about what's right for Celtic.
“We've now shown what we can do, all within the finances of the club. Hopefully going forward we can continue to push that way so we can keep becoming a seasonal team at that level and challenging.
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“In terms of the length of me staying, I'm obviously very happy here.
“But it will always be what's best for Celtic. But in this moment in time, the real focus is finishing the season as strong as we can.”
Rodgers hasn’t spoken to the Celtic board about plans for strengthening his squad further for a tilt at the Champions League again next season, and he is reluctant to discuss any plans publicly at least until they get there, with the league still technically to be won and a qualifier to then negotiate this summer.
“Listen, I don't want to start talking about qualifiers for Champions League,” he said.
“We're not a champion yet.
“So, we've got a lot of work to do in the league. We've got the games that we have left, so we have to finish the season strong.
“But Champions League, Europa League, whatever, the plans are well underway and there's a lot of work going on to improve our squad.
“I think there are financial levels that we can never get to. I think that's clear.
“But we can certainly get to the next stage. And the next stage being what we've shown this season with the level of game that we can play and the confidence that you gain, because that's the big thing at this level, having the confidence to go to the Allianz Arena and play that way.
“So that will give the players a huge lift of confidence. And there's no reason then why, if you can qualify out of these group stages and perform like we did, then there's no reason why you can't then move on to a last-16 or a quarter-final.
“But that's all obviously part of the plan going forward, hopefully.”
