Brendan Rodgers won’t be putting a deadline on Scott Brown signing a new Celtic contract.
The 33-year-old is out of contract at the end of this season and is believed to be attracting interest from Australia and the USA.
Brown has been a first pick from the moment Brendan Rodgers took over as manager, inviting the midfielder down to his home to share his plans for taking the club forward.
Last season when Brown was absent Celtic’s results slumped but over the last month Rodgers has come up with a system that delivers results and goals with the club skipper on the sidelines.
A Celtic side without Brown is no longer unthinkable but Rodgers knows better than anyone the impact and value that his skipper provides.
“I said before, it’s just time, let that run,” the Celtic boss told The Sun in response to news of interest from America.
“If anyone has deserved time to make a decision, it’s Scott.
“He has every right, if he has options for this last period of his career, he needs the time to look at that.
“That shouldn’t be taken by any Celtic supporters that he doesn’t want to be here.
“He loves it here, he’s been top class and we want him to stay, but like all players at that stage of their career, he’ll have to look at it for himself and his family.”
Celtic paid Hibs £4.4m for Brown in May 2007, it took a decade for Celtic to match that transfer fee when Olivier Ntcham was signed from Manchester City for a similar fee.
