Opinion: The reason(s) why Greg Taylor not signing a new contract

It is a new year & the January transfer window is now open! Much of the talk has been around new signings for us, but there is also intrigue around outgoings too, and none more so than Greg Taylor.

Taylor is a key player of the current Celtic first-team, which has been one of the most successful teams domestically in the Club’s 137 year history. In achieving this, Taylor overcame the extremely difficult task of replacing Kieran Tierney as the Celtic left-back. Taylor really has been an A-class standard Mercedes full-back for us.

To elaborate upon this, over the last 5 seasons Taylor has provided real stability in the position, both tenacious defensively (‘shut yer hole fat boy’ is epic folklore) & linkup play in the midfield being sharp & slick. He in particular has 39 goal contributions in 190 games. Most notably, this included 2 goals in 2 Glasgow Derby games at Hampden, including a goal in the recent history-making 119 League Cup trophy win. Taylor has claimed a famous Champions League assist for Kuhn’s winner in the recent Gladiatorial 3:1 victory over RB Leipzig, which was an epic performance that will live long in the memories of the Parkhead faithful.

As a football fan, sometimes we can get prefixed with improvement, but it is also important to remember that in making changes to bring this into effect things can always get worse, much worse. Watching Diego Laxalt struggle hopelessly badly in the SPFL (& shockingly disturbingly badly in Glasgow derbies) still gives many of us the fear over the position. Taylor in comparison has been a knight in shining armour there. Taylor’s value last season was shown when he was out injured & returned to the team, and all of a sudden the interlinks in the middle of the parks started clicking, & the overall team performance levels started improving to the great relief of everyone.

So, all that considered, you would therefore have expected that a new deal would have been agreed with Taylor, but it has not. It is something of a puzzler perplexing many Celtic fans as to why a new deal has not been agreed. Let’s consider the potential reasons.

1. Disagreement over status in the squad hierarchy

The board may see Taylor as a £10-15k squad status, more along the same lines as Anthony Ralston though slightly higher in the hierarchy, but Taylor sees his value as higher. Taylor perhaps just does not feel the love & is upset.

2. Extra money on a free transfer

When a club does not have to pay a transfer fee for a player, this often results in the player getting paid more of a weekly wage – perhaps this is what Taylor is doing. Maybe this is purely a commercial & financial decision for the best of his family.

3. Last big contract

Taylor is in his late 20’s so this is probably his last big contract, so he is perhaps seeking to make the absolute most of it, even if it means a couple of hundred thousand more in the bank at the end of his football career. No one can blame him for seeing the bigger picture and thinking about life after football, especially after providing such outstanding service for the last 5 and a half years.

4. New challenge away from ‘Glasgow Goldfishbowl’

Being a Celtic player in Glasgow is like being a rock ‘n’ roll star, if not bigger; some players revel in this & the adrenaline rush takes their game to new heights, but sometimes this can create cabin fever. Maybe Taylor has reached the point of saturation with the ‘Glasgow Goldfishbowl’ and it is now a millstone rather than a surge. Perhaps Taylor feels he has reached the natural end for this chapter in his career, and just seeks a new environment & fresh challenges.

Conclusion

I don’t think you can put your finger on any 1 reason why Taylor is not re-signing. It is most likely to be a mixture of all of the above, and additional factors as well. I must be honest, it does feel slightly poignant though.

Many Celtic fans feel that the Club can do better (slightly) as first choice left-back than Taylor, particularly if we are looking to make an impact at Champions League level; they also know however that we can do much, MUCH worse than Taylor, who as stated above is an excellent left-back of the utmost professionalism.

So in a perfect world it would be nice to have Taylor there for another 4 seasons in case any new replacements don’t work out as planned, playing a similar role to Ralston, but, it seems that this arrangement is not suitable. Though you never know, this may suddenly appeal to Taylor (though it seems unlikely), and fingers crossed a deal along these lines might still be agreed.

Hopefully, Taylor at least stays until the end of his contract, but this is one to keep an eye on over January, especially if a “big-ish” club in England or Europe gets an injury to a left-back & requires a replacement who can hit the ground running immediately, so puts in a tempting £4-5m offer for Taylor. This might lead to Alex Valle being promoted to first-choice left back, with perhaps Tierney and/or Bernabei as understudy until the end of the season, with Scales or Ralston able to provide cover if things are not going well.