By support

1st Jul, 2018 | 8:18am

Rodgers issues hands-off warning as Lille reportedly show interest in Celtic 23y/o

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has revealed that he has no plans to sell Hoops centre-back Jozo Simunovic at this moment in time.

The Daily Mail recently reported that former French champions Lille were set to bid £5million for the 23-year-old Bosnian, but Rodgers has declared that at the moment none of his centre-backs are for sale.

“I wouldn’t encourage a move for any player. We need as many of them here for as long as we can to help us” Rodgers said, as quoted by the Daily Record.

“So at this moment in time we wouldn’t be overly interested.”

Simunovic lost his place in the Hoops team last December after a 4-0 loss to Hearts but with Dedryck Boyata away at the World Cup he could well feature in the upcoming Champions League qualifiers.

Football Insider verdict

It’s perhaps telling that Brendan Rodgers states ‘at this moment in time’ the Hoops wouldn’t be interested in selling Jozo Simunovic. Perhaps that is an indication that plans could change during the weeks ahead, particularly when Dedryck Boyata returns to the club. The most intriguing thing about Simunovic is that his form seems to have fallen off a cliff after he signed a new long-term deal with the club last season. The Hoops could well demand good money should they sell Simunovic due to his contract, and £5million isn’t that much for a player who, on his day, can be a very solid centre-back. Sadly those days were few and far between last season, and it will be interesting to see what happens with this rumour in the weeks ahead. Until the transfer window closes in August, you would have to say that there are doubts about the Bosnian’s future with the Bhoys.

In other Celtic news, Brendan Rodgers has declared he is not interested in signing this Liverpool forward

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