Callum McGregor has revealed what Brendan Rodgers told him before he returned to Celtic almost two years ago.
The Parkhead club were on the hunt for a new boss in the summer of 2023 following the departure of Ange Postecoglou to Tottenham Hotspur.
Rodgers was a free agent and ultimately rejoined Celtic, a club he walked out on mid-season for Leicester a few years prior.
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Before his return to Glasgow's east end was rubber-stamped, Rodgers met with his soon-to-be captain, McGregor, in Mallorca.
The Celtic skipper has since opened up on their conversation: "We had a chat before he came back, and that's what we were talking about, just to win as many trophies as we can, and be as dominant as we can, and keep pushing the club," said McGregor.
"So, we had already had that conversation before he came back in. He's a manager who has done so much for my career and put so much trust and faith in me. Every time I go on the pitch, I try to repay that to him and the best way to do that is by winning trophies."
McGregor moved his seasonal goal tally into double figures at the weekend after he opened the scoring in his side's 5-0 Scottish Cup semi-final win over St Johnstone.
Rodgers waxed lyrical about the skipper post-match: "He's just such a special player," said the Celtic manager.
"I've had him in two spells now and managed him for so many games. He's a real tactical decision-maker in the game.
"He sets the tempo for the team. He's a coach on the pitch for me. He knows the patterns that we want and he identifies the moments when to step in.
"Because you're playing against man-to-man, there's little patterns that freeze you up to be going forward. And he's done it so many times for me, especially here at Hampden, where he gets such important goals. He gets the first one, creates the second one.
"Just a brilliant captain of this club. And, yes, he was so good today [Sunday]."
