Tom Rogic has insisted that he was never considering a Celtic exit

Australia international Tom Rogic has clarified that he always had the ambition of committing his future to Celtic. The midfielder was recently linked with a move to Southampton who have signed former Hoops teammates in James Forster, Victor Wanyama and Virgil van Dijk but he has now secured a fresh five-year contract with the Scottish champions.

Speaking after his extension, he said: “There was only ever one thought on my mind. I can't control what's going on outside but within my own mind I wanted to stay here. No one had to sell the Celtic vision going forward too much, it sells itself. I've been here five years now so I know certainly what the club is about. I didn't need any more convincing. Obviously over the last couple of years we've been successful and the manager (Brendan Rodgers) has been a big part of that, so I'm excited to be working under him.”

Rogic had missed valuable gametime between December and February with a knee injury and this had seen him fall down the pecking order. Nevertheless, the Australian won his place back towards the end of the campaign and he was particularly impressive versus Old Firm rivals Rangers against whom he scored three goals in as many matches.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers had managed to restrict many big-name departures since his arrival at Parkhead and the Northern Irishman will now be hoping to take the club to the next level with a better performance in Europe. The Hoops have managed to reach the Champions League group stage in each of the previous two campaigns but unfortunately, they have not able to reach the knockout phase of the competition.

The Scottish heavyweights ended the campaign with their second successive domestic treble but their next aim should undoubtedly lie on making progress in Europe. Celtic will begin their Champions League campaign in the first qualifying round.