Premier League survival hopefuls Southampton are keen on two Celtic midfielders – Tom Rogic and Stuart Armstrong.
Another summer, another Celtic man linked with Southampton.
It was Victor Wanyama in 2012, Fraser Forster in 2013 and Virgil van Dijk in 2015. Now, with the 2018 summer transfer window set to creak open, the Daily Record report that The Saints’ head of recruitment Ross Wilson scouted Tom Rogic during the 5-0 thrashing of Rangers on Sunday.
Rogic is facing an uncertain future at Celtic, having refused to sign a new contract with his current deal set to expire in a year’s time.
But manager Brendan Rodgers clearly doesn’t want to lose a player he calls his ‘Magic Man’. You could make a case for Rogic being the most naturally gifted player in the entirety of Scotland and players of his masterful ability don’t come around too often for a club with Celtic’s resources.
So with Celtic determined to keep the former Central Coast Mariners star on the green half of Glasgow, they could do worse than to offer Southampton Stuart Armstrong on a plate instead.
The Daily Record report that The Saints have been tracking Armstrong for the last 12 months having tried and failed to sign the Scotland international last summer. The Sunday Post in January linked Southampton with a £10 million bid.
Armstrong has been quite comfortably overshadowed by Rogic this season and has been nowhere near the form that saw him score 17 goals across 2017/18. Even Celtic fans have started to criticise his dismays.
Like Rogic, Armstrong has a year left on his contract and could be available at a cut-price fee. But if there’s one midfielder Celtic should be willing to let leave for the St Mary’s, it is not the Socceroos star.
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