We have a very special group of guys at this club.. we have to try to keep them together for a long time
SAYS CALLUM McGREGOR
CALLUM McGREGOR last night urged Celtic’s soughtafter stars to stay because he reckons there can’t be many places better than Parkhead.
Moussa Dembele is wanted across Europe while Stuart Armstrong is among those being eyed south of the border.
Kieran Tierney is also a target for big clubs but McGregor believes it is vital for the champions to keep hold of their prized assets and feels many will choose to remain.
Tom Rogic penned a new five-year contract a week ago having come to the conclusion life is sweet in Glasgow’s east end.
McGregor feels his colleagues will feel the same after another fantastic season of domestic success and a second successive adventure in the group stage of the Champions League.
He said: “It’s probably a key factor for us to try to keep everyone together. I have said before we have a special group of guys at the club. Everybody is together and wants each other to do well.
“Even the guys who are not playing are just as happy when you are doing well and you are happy when someone is in there and doing well. That’s the way it has to be to get success. Everyone has to be together.
“When you are here and you are winning things, you see the support and you know how massive the club is, that’s a big draw. You are not leaving here to go somewhere else.
“You are winning things, you are successful, you are playing in the Champions League. The magnitude of the club and the support you get, you don’t want to leave here. Days like Saturday at Hampden show this is the best place to be.”
Rogic’s long-term capture is a bonus for Brendan Rodgers and the Aussie displayed his quality again in the Scottish Cup Final win over Motherwell.
McGregor said: “Tom was excellent again and we seem to be working well in that little combination we have at the moment. He’s a top, top player.”
The Scot was the man who hit the headlines though with a stunning opener in the 2-0 win.
His blistering right-foot finish will go down as one of the great Hampden strikes and he smiled and said: “I’m actually right-footed now. I’ve just switched my legs over.
“It’s just reactions. It happened so quickly and when I hit it I knew it was going in. To be part of a special day in the club’s history is hard to put into words just how I am feeling.”
McGregor is now headed for his summer break and able to reflect on a stunning rise to prominence at Parkhead. Having fought his way into Rodgers’s thoughts in the second half of last term the 24-year-old took it to new levels during the campaign just ended.
He became a first pick for group-stage games in the Champions League, got the nod for Old Firm matches and cup ties and also forced his way to a senior Scotland debut.
The playmaker admits the successes of this term feel more satisfying given he had contributed throughout the campaign and played a key role in some huge games.
McGregor scored in both the semi-final and final of the Scottish Cup, against Bayern Munich and Zenit St Petersburg in Europe and also bagged goals in matches against Rangers.
He said: “With the number of games I played and the amount of starts I made I felt I contributed more this time. There were goals in big games as well.
“Obviously it was great last year and I hope I played a part last season but probably becoming more of a main player is something I wanted to do.
“It was great to hear the manager give me credit and the way you want to repay him is by giving him trophies and playing well. It also creates good memories.
“It’s just the challenge of playing in big games.
“You see over the years the fantastic goals and the great players and you see the scenes it creates among the supporters and the memories it gives them.
“You are sitting there thinking, ‘I want a bit of that. I want to be the guy who scores the goal that wins the game.’
“The more and more you do it, it becomes a bit more natural and you feel as though you can be the one who can make the difference.
“I probably don’t get nervous before big games. It’s more excitement for the game and wanting to go out and give a good performance and help the team to win.”