Sinclair confident Gordon will shun move to Chelsea
SCOTT SINCLAIR, the Celtic winger, last night expressed confidence that Craig Gordon, who Chelsea remain keen to sign, will stay at Parkhead beyond the January transfer window.
The Barclays Premier League leaders, who are prepared to let second-choice keeper Asmir Begovic leave for Bournemouth, had an offer of under £3m for Gordon turned down last week.
Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic manager, is adamant he will not allow the Scotland internationalist, who has been a regular first-team starter for him this season, to leave.
However, the Stamford Bridge club are expected to test the Scottish champions’ resolve by tabling an improved bid for the player either today or tomorrow.
Gordon, who has 18 months left to run on his contract, has been intrigued by the interest shown in him by Antonio Conte, even though he would only be back-up to Thibaut Courtois.
But Sinclair, who spent three seasons at Chelsea early in his career, suggested that his 34-year-old team mate, who has just won back his place in the national team, would be keen to play regularly rather than sit on the bench.
“I’m sure the manager won’t want to let Craig go,” he said. “He’s massive to us. There’s a few days left so we’ll just need to wait and see.
“He’s old enough now and he’s played in the Premier League. I don’t think anything will get to him. In a few days everyone will know what is happening.
“Everyone’s experience is different. I’ve been to Chelsea and Man City. I started at Chelsea and then got to an age when I wanted to play and moved to Swansea.
“Then I moved to Man City and didn’t play as many games as I’d have wanted to do. Everyone is different and we all have choices and it’s up to Craig to make the choice.”
Sinclair, who scored twice yesterday as Celtic beat Hearts 4-0 at Parkhead to stretch their unbeaten start to the domestic season to 27 games and set a new post-war Scottish record, feels that Kieran Tierney is set to attract interest from major clubs across Europe.
“He’s a great young player and rightly got the man of the match today,” he said. “He’s getting tons of experience playing every week and having that enjoyment playing and getting forward to show his quality.
“Loads of clubs around Europe will be after him. He’s a guy who wants to learn and gives 100 per cent in training. That’s great to see.”
Meanwhile, Sinclair revealed every member of the Celtic squad was keen to maintain their winning run – starting with the league meeting with secondplaced Aberdeen on Wednesday evening.
“I think it’s massive,” he said. “It’s a great achievement for the players and the manager and it shows how hard we’ve been working. The work doesn’t stop there. We keep on going.
“We’ve just got to take each game as it comes as that’s what we’ve been doing and it’s worked so far. We take it step-bystep and try to continue this run.
“It’s a massive achievement throughout the whole squad. The manager has got his points across and hopefully we keep it going.
“Throughout the whole squad everyone is so hungry. Even guys coming off the bench are hungry. Look at Dedryck [Boyata] and see his qualities and then today Patrick [Roberts].
“There are so many players who are hungry and give their all and that’s a great quality to have.”
Sinclair took his tally for the 2016-17 campaign to 15 with his brace against Hearts and now has his sights set on bettering the 27 goals he netted when Swansea City won promotion to the Premier League in the 2010-11 season.
“It’s nice to get on the scoresheet,” he said. “We didn’t have a number nine in the squad with Moussa [Dembele] and Leigh [Griffiths] out and hopefully it’s not for long.
“But we were great as a team going forward and we pressed aggressively, which the manager wanted us to do, and we got the win. I hope I can beat the 27-goal mark. That would be great on a personal level but the main thing is to win games. If I score and get three points then even better.”