Celtic in talks with five players over extending their contracts

Celtic are in talks with five of their top team players over extending their deals to stay with the club.

Neil Lennon has confirmed discussions have been held with Victor Wanyama, Gary Hooper, Thomas Rogne, James Forrest and Adam Matthews over improved terms.

The manager stated talks had been opened with the quintet with a view to rewarding them for their form, and that none of the discussions were as a result of agents pushing for new contracts.

"They are all in talks at the minute with the respective parties," Lennon confirmed. "We are hoping to get over the line with all of them.

"It's ongoing. It could be 'how long is a piece of string?' with these negotiations."

Lennon then quipped: "I don't get involved. Otherwise it would be done a lot quicker... one way or another."

Wanyama's agent, Rob Moore, said on Thursday morning that no talks had been opened over extending his client's stay at Parkhead, and that any new deal would be geared towards an increase in salary as opposed to adding more years to his deal.

"Rob knows our stance," added Lennon. "I wouldn't say there is a stalemate or anything going on. I am sure we can come to some sort of resolution on that.

"It's not that he has come banging our door. We've gone to him because we feel he has been terrific for us in his time here.

"We did it with [Beram] Kayal and [Emilio] Izaguirre the season before. It's a policy which I like, where you reward players who have done well.

"It is a great incentive to the players to keep improving. It's no different to any other clubs.

"The likes of [Charlie] Mulgrew, Wanyama, Matthews, Forrest and Hooper have played brilliantly for me over the years. I want to reward them for that level of performance."

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