STUART ARMSTRONG has today signed a two year extension to his contract that will keep him at Celtic until the summer of 2019, as CQN stated earlier this week.
Stuart arrived at Celtic alongside his fellow Dundee United team-mate Gary Mackay-Steven in February 2015. After a promising start his form suffered as Ronny Deila persisted in playing him wide on the left, a position that clearly wasn’t suited to the midfielder’s talents.
Things changed dramatically for the player when Brendan Rodgers took over at Celtic and from September to May this year, the 25 year old was in sensational form. He scored 17 goals last season and broke into the Scotland starting 11, making the best debut manager Gordon Strachan had ever seen in March.
Armstrong leveled the scoring in the Scottish Cup Final in May after Jonny Hayes had given Aberdeen the lead. He played a significant role in Celtic’s treble winning, invisible season and in doing so attracted considerable attention from clubs down south.
A contract negotiation stand-off looked likely to see the player move away from Celtic in this window but the manager’s intervention earlier this week seems to have brought Armstrong’s advisors and the club together to thrash out a deal and the mood music before the impressive 5-0 victory over Astana in the Champions League Play-off on Wednesday was that an agreement had been reached and the player would sign his new contract by the end of the week.
This has now happened.
“I am delighted to sign this new contract with Celtic. I have had a tremendous time at the Club so far and it has been a period in my footballing career which I have enjoyed immensely,” Armstrong stated today.
“It has been an honour to play for a Club of such stature. I have enjoyed a great relationship with our supporters and we have achieved a high level of success, something it has been great to be part of.
“I’m pleased that this new contract has been agreed and I am now looking forward very much to working with the manager, our staff and my team-mates to bring the club and our fans even more success.”
It looks like the chance to continue to work with Brendan Rodgers has triumphed over a bigger pay packet at a side outside the top sides in the Premier League.
LISTEN to the latest CQN Podcast now…
