Brendan Rodgers watched his Celtic lose 1-0 to Hearts at the weekend, but while that shock defeat has left the Hoops in sixth spot in the Scottish Premiership after two matches, there was heightened speculation that the Northern Irishman is ready to exit the Glasgow club.
However, the 45-year-old was quick to quash the circulating rumours with a straight bat, as he claimed, "I've got three years left of my contract here and I love everyday of my life at Celtic," and he now wants to turn his attentions to a monster Champions League qualification match on Tuesday night.
Celtic face Greek side AEK Athens in the second leg of their third qualifying round match, and with the pair tied at 1-1 after the first leg, then Rodgers will want his men to quickly focus their minds on maintaining their Champions League focus, and pick up a huge win in Europe.
If the reigning Scottish champions can edge past AEK Athens then they would set up a final qualification match with Malmo (Sweden) or MOL Vidi (Hungary), and Rodgers has been buoyed by the news that star striker Moussa Dembele has travelled with the squad, and the frontman could be risked after a few weeks out.
Dembele has missed Celtic's last five matches after picking up an injury in their win over Alashkert last month, and with the Bhoys needing to score to give themselves any chance of progressing then Rodgers could and should unleash him from the start, as they lacked any significant attacking threats at the weekend against Hearts, and the 22-year-old Frenchman will reinvigorate their front line, as he looks to add to his record of eight Champions League goals in 20 appearances
While news that Dembele is fast-approaching a return to the starting XI, Rodgers has had to deal with Belgian defender Dedryck Boyata throwing his toys out of the pram after he failed to gain a move on transfer deadline day. The centre-back, who featured for Belgium in their fine World Cup, is looking for a way out of Celtic with a year left on his contract, but the Scottish side elected to not accept a bid of around £9m from Fulham last week.
However, Sevilla are a side eyeing up a move for Boyata, and while the Hoops are holding out for £10m for their stoic defender, with the Spanish transfer still open then they could well be forced to let him leave the club, as having refused to play at the weekend - stating he was injured - then Boyata could be much better off out of the club, and Rodgers may just want to accept a significant bid as he looks to work with his current squad.
Rodgers has made the right call in leaving Boyata on Scottish soil, and the Belgian's failure to make himself available for Saturday's match with Hearts has highlighted the former Manchester City man's shocking attitude, and a club that needs their star players all to shine tomorrow can benefit from him not being around.
Nevertheless, Boyata will not sneak into Rodgers' mind tomorrow night when he tries to mastermind a win over AEK Athens, as defeat will see Celtic's season take an almighty early stumble, and see them not feature in the Champions League proper for the first time in three years.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers after losing at Tynecastle: "I'd read somewhere else about 'walking away'. I've got three years left of my contract here and I love everyday of my life at Celtic."
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