Martin O’Neill has weighed in on Brendan Rodgers’ contract situation, admitting he would be taken aback if the Celtic manager were to walk away from the club.

Rodgers has just entered the final year of his current deal, and while he has made clear his desire to stay and continue building, the lack of a new offer has raised questions over his long-term future. Talks have taken place with majority shareholder Dermot Desmond, but there has been no resolution so far.

But he would only want to stay at Celtic if there was a real chance to keep progressing with Celtic, not just bobbing along.

Speaking on the matter, former Celtic boss O’Neill believes it would come down to Rodgers’ personal decision if he were to go – not the club’s.

“I would be very surprised myself if Brendan were to leave,” said O’Neill, as quoted by the Glasgow Times. “I think Celtic would want him, and if Brendan was saying, ‘Oh, I’ll just see this one out,’ then I bet it would only be his (Brendan’s) choice.”

Rodgers has stressed repeatedly that he is not interested in merely maintaining levels at Celtic, and only wants to stay if the ambition matches his own. But with the manager now cranking up pressure on the board over recruitment and clarity on the direction of travel, the ball appears firmly in the club’s court.

Only Rodgers knows what he really intends to do, and fans will just have to wait until he makes his decision public.