Europa League Celtic v Rennes

now and he is training very well. He has played brilliantly in the games he has played. He’s been unfortunate not to play more often, that’s just down to the quality of the rest.

“The way he is seeing things now, he might feel ‘why shouldn’t I stay here?’. Because things are going well. We’ve beaten Lazio away from home and he played a huge part in that. Maybe that makes him think the grass isn’t always greener and he can fulfil a lot of things at Celtic for whatever length of time he is here.”

Lennon is a huge admirer of Ntcham and feels the player has, even though he struggles to get a start ahead of captain Scott Brown and Callum McGregor, much to offer Celtic, who are facing a hectic schedule in the coming weeks, both at home and abroad going forward.

Lennon continued: “He is some player, really high calibre in his manipulation of the ball. We are seeing more consistency from him now, when previously he was more up and down. Certainly, on the ball he has fantastic technique and he works hard at that. Going the other way defensively, he is improving that aspect as well.

“He and [Odsonne] Edouard have a really good understanding on the pitch and they are quite close away from the club as well. They are two very creative, penetrating players. I think they like playing in the same team.

“I think he sees that he has to work harder at times. He’s doing that a lot better now. There’s more diligence in his defensive play. He’s a strong boy. Physically, he’s a specimen.”