Samaras misses Turkey trip for make-or-break contract talks
The Greek internationalist was missing from the Celtic side that turned on the style to demolish St Mirren 4-0 this afternoon.
Samaras is out of contract in the summer and is believed to have offers from Spain, England and North America.
Neil Lennon has been a big supporter of the former Manchester City man but hinted that a parting of the ways could soon be on the cards.
“Georgios has a bit of time to think about his future,” the Celtic boss explained.
“He won’t be coming to Turkey, he will be staying to have some treatment and hopefully we will have an answer one way or the other on his future when we come back.
“He had a meeting with Peter (Lawwell) yesterday. You are never confident one way or the other. He has a lot to think about.
“It is a big contract for him, he is 29 so the next three or four years of his career is important.
“We would like him to be here but that may not be the case.”
Celtic’s 4-0 win over the Paisley side was exactly the result and performance that Lennon was looking for.
After a goal-less first half the hoops scored four times in 19 minutes after the break thanks to strikes from Charlie Mulgrew, Anthony Stokes and a double from Kris Commons.
It was a day of landmarks for the hoops with Stokes scoring his 100th career goal, Commons his 50th (and 51st) Celtic goals and an eighth domestic clean sheet for the defence stretching back to November 23 when Niall McGinn scored for Aberdeen.