'Talent not just enough' - Rodgers warns Lawal he needs to step up his game to make it at Celtic 

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has challenged Irish-Nigerian defender Bosun Lawal to raise his game to play for his side in the coming season.

The 21-year-old is highly rated at Celtic Park though he has featured just once for the first team which was during a Scottish FA Cup clash with Greenock Morton in January 2023.

In a bid to give him more experience of playing first team football, he was sent out on loan to Fleetwood Town last season where he impressed, playing as a midfielder and not in his natural centre-back position.

He is currently with the Celtic's first team, preparing for the new season and he featured as a second half substitute in their pre-season clash against Ayr United and started against Queen's Park  last Wednesday.

Rodgers has given his impression about Lawal who he feels needs to step up his game if he is to make the cut in the first team, alongside fellow youngster Odin Thiago Holm. 

In quotes relayed by Daily Record, the former Liverpool manager said: "You see Francis Turley when he comes into the game the other night. It's a kid I've only seen for a couple of days, and if he can progress and get his body right, then he'll be a proper player. It's a kid that moves well."

"You see how he moves, how he takes the ball, makes runs, he's bright, he gets in the box, gets a finish. He just needs to get more power and energy, but that's football, that's movement, that's taking the ball, that's being clever."

"So I think the two boys (Holm and Lawal) that you mentioned have talent. But I want more. A lot more. Talent not just enough. You can play in teams, but not in our team."

Having impressed with Fleetwood Town last term , Lawal has been linked with a move back to England with QPR, Portsmouth and Derby County all credited with an interested in his services.

It remains to be seen whether Rodgers will allow him leave or keep him at the club for the new season amid interest elsewhere.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

Photo Credit: celticfc.com 

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