Former Scotland international Jackie McNamara believes the lure of the Champions League next season will be enough to convince Ange Postecoglou to stay at Celtic.
The Hoops boss has been constantly linked with moves to the Premier League at several stages throughout the season, an unsurprising feat given the turnaround Postecoglou has overseen at Celtic since arriving in the summer of 2021.
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The Aussie got his first taste of European nights with the Hoops this season, although they failed to make it out of a group featuring defending champions Real Madrid, RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk.
However, McNamara liked what he saw from Postecoglou’s side in each of those games and believes the former Socceroos boss would rather embrace the challenge of unsettling Europe’s best more than anything else.
“I think Ange will want to be better in Europe,” McNamara said, per the Daily Record.
“He’ll want to go into the Champions League and make an impact and do well on that stage. I thought they were excellent in some of the games this year for 60 minutes. When you get chances at that level you need to take them.
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“He’s been linked with a lot of jobs but he will be. His stock is very high and people have looked at how he’s turned it around at Celtic.
“There’s been a huge turnaround at the club in terms of players but the style and identity is there. You can only see them getting better and stronger.
“Ange has been mentioned with a lot of jobs and I’m sure the interest has been a lot stronger in some of them than we know about.
“He hasn’t gone and Celtic fans will be hoping that stays the case for a long time because he’s been excellent.”
Should Postecoglou achieve the domestic treble with Celtic, there’s undoubtedly going to be even more envious glances from south of the border.
The Glasgow outfit are inching closer to the feat having already conquered the Scottish League Cup this season, hold a nine-point lead over Rangers in the league and face their bitter rivals in the semi-final of the Scottish FA Cup.
The league gap could even be extended to 12 as Celtic take on Rangers in the latest instalment of the iconic Old Firm derby this weekend, with kick-off scheduled for 9:30pm AEST on April 8.