Lennon looking to extend contracts of three players – A boost for future transfer windows?

Neil Lennon has revealed that he is looking to offer James Forrest and “one or two others” a new contract in the near future following a summer of speculation regarding a number of Celtic players.

As we all know, Kieran Tierney completed a £25million to Arsenal last week, while Leicester City also put in a late offer for Callum McGregor.

The likes of Forrest, Olivier Ntcham, Jozo Simunovic and Kristoffer Ajer, to name a few, have also all been linked with respective moves away, however Lennon’s latest comments will come as a positive as he looks to tie a number of his key men down to long-term deals.

According to the National, when asked about the rumours surrounding Forrest, Lennon said:

Obviously we’re not going to sell. We actually want to look to renegotiate with him and maybe one or two others as well. It’s important to hold on to your better players, we have already sold one so we don’t want to sell any more. We are looking to add to the squad rather than selling any more of our important players and James certainly falls into that category.

So do Lennon’s comments provide a boost for future transfer windows?

READ CELTIC VERDICT

They certainly do.

Lennon stating that he is looking to extend Forrest’s current deal and also tie at least one or two more players down to long term deals is clearly brilliant news.

With a longer contract comes a larger value and an extended stay at the club. While Celtic clearly will not want any of their key men to leave, as we’ve seen this summer with KT, sometimes a move to a top six Premier League side, for example, becomes inevitable.

Having players ties down with a longer contract not only boots the Hoops’ chances of keeping their star players at the club, but should teams from abroad come knocking, it gives Celtic the opportunity to put a large asking price on the player, which in turn allows them to reinvest heavily.