Manager urges Simunovic to ignore English suitors

Brendan Rodgers has urged Jozo Simunovic to reject advances from south of the Border and concentrate on securing his place in the Celtic defence. The Croatian defender has suffered a stop-start beginning to his Parkheadcareerduetoinjury. A move to Torino also broke down at the end of the last transfer window, with fears the player might be left in limbo.

But a confident performance after replacing Tolo Koure in Sunday’s Betfred Cup semi-victory over Rangers underlined the 22 yearold’s undoubted class. His display could only have impressed scouts from Newcastle and Crystal Palace, reported to be watching a player in line to start for Celtic at Ross County tonight.

“I see his future very much here,” the Celtic manager said yesterday. “He has been out injured and probably hasn’t had that consistent run as a Celtic player.

“I have been involved at both ends of the Premier League so I know the finances involved,” Rodgers added. “It’s very hard if a player is offered 80, 90 or 100 grand a week to say no to that. But, being a young player, Jozo has time. He just needs to get fit and be available.”

Rodgers admitted he did not have the chance to fully appreciate Simunovic’s quality before he was nearly sold to Torino.

“I think I said at the time that I was delighted he never went,” reflected Rodgers. “I hadn’t seen a lot of him, that was the thing. There was obviously the chance for him to go without being fit, really. Thankfully, it fell through. As soon as you saw him back in training, you thought: ‘Once this boy is fit, we have a proper player here’.”