Brendan Rodgers has promised to be honest and fair with Alex Valle if the left-back’s playing prospects are diminished but stressed he would not allow Celtic to be left short by any termination of his season-long loan.
Reports in Spain claim Como have lined up a loan move for the Barcelona player, who has made ten starts and eight substitute appearances for Celtic.
The option comes in the wake of growing speculation that Kieran Tierney could seal an imminent return to Celtic after the club opened pre-contract negotiations with the Arsenal player, whose fellow Scotland left-back Greg Taylor is first choice in the position for the Hoops.
Ahead of Saturday’s Scottish Cup fourth-round tie with Kilmarnock, Rodgers said: “Alex is still very much a player here. Lots of rumours around lots of players and lots of moving parts. But at this very moment, Alex is here and getting ready for the game.”
Celtic face Young Boys next Wednesday and Aston Villa on January 29 and their Champions League squad is already set. But there could be movement between that trip to Birmingham and the close of the transfer window on February 3.
“Obviously, the window is open for a little bit longer than the end of January,” Rodgers said. “So that always gives time. We’ve got our final group game against Aston Villa and there’s a little bit of time after that.”
Rodgers insisted he would not be left short in any position.
“No, there’s absolutely no way that would happen,” he said. “Obviously, with Alex coming in here on loan, I make a commitment to a young player to come in and play.
“He’s loved his time here. He enjoys it here. He enjoys the football. He’s become a Champions League player coming to Celtic. And he’s in no rush to leave.
“However, if something was to change on that front, where he may not be getting the game time, then I have to be open and honest with him to let him understand this.
“But he knows absolutely the picture here. And like I said, my honesty and commitment will be with him, first and foremost, in terms of what the situation is.”
Rodgers remains “fairly confident” he will add to his squad before the deadline and feels the expansion of European competitions has resulted in a general slowness in the market at the top level.
“I think with the extra added games, and obviously remembering as well, if you sign players that can’t play in the Champions League, you’re then working with the players that you have currently within your squad,” he said.
“Thankfully for us, touch wood, we don’t have the injuries that maybe, if another team has lots of injuries, then even more so why they would want to keep players back.
“You just have to be patient. You’d always want to have a player in on the very first day, but if it can’t be the case, then somewhere along the January period, we would hope to get them in then.”
Rodgers has Daizen Maeda back for the visit of Killie and expects his team to move on quickly from conceding three goals in Tuesday’s draw with Dundee.
“There comes a point in a season where any team, no matter how good a season you’re having, or no matter how bad a season you’re having, you’ll hit a little bit of a wall,” he said. “It’s natural.
“It doesn’t matter how good you’ve been playing or not, you’re going to hit a little wall.
“And I felt that probably on Tuesday, on that seventh game in 20 days, was maybe that point.”
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
