Ex-Celtic boss hails ace that created 'psychiatric room' but admits returning hero will add 'power'

The 27-year-old Scotland international has been a mainstay of the Celtic back four over the last six campaigns, amassing over 150 appearances for the club in all competitions, and winning four Scottish Premiership titles, three Scottish Cups and three Scottish League Cups since his arrival from Kilmarnock in 2019.

However, with Kieran Tierney returning to the club in the summer and Taylor’s contract expiring, the long-serving defender looks to be approaching the end of his Celtic Park career, despite Brendan Rodgers’ insistence that he would like the 14-cap international to remain in Glasgow.

“I feel that Greg Taylor's been magnificent over the years,” Strachan told Genting Casino. “The number of left-backs he's seen off, there should be a dressing room full of left-backs who just sit there, who have come along and totally failed to move this lad. There should be some sort of psychiatric room at Celtic's training ground for the left-backs that come in and have been seen off. They'll just sit there and go, ‘Why did I bother?’

“It might be different for Kieran, but he keeps seeing people off. Taylor, he gets on with his job, he can score, he makes goals, he gets into great midfield positions. What's happened is when he was brought in, they had him move into these midfield positions, but he was a midfield player when he was a kid so he can adapt to that.”

Reports in the Croatian media claim that Taylor has already agreed a pre-contract move to Champions League outfit Dinamo Zagreb, with the report adding that the club has tried to sign the left-back in January but had failed to do so. The Scottish defender was also linked with EFL Championship clubs Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday during the winter window, but remained at Celtic Park.

The arrival of Jeffrey Schlupp on loan from Crystal Palace provides Taylor with competition until the end of the current campaign, however, Strachan admits it will be the impending return of former Celtic favourite Tierney that will see Rodgers’ squad take it up a notch.

“I think Tierney’s got experience as a world footballer with Arsenal and then Real Sociedad on loan. He's had a good look at football, he's joined a great club when he signed for Arsenal. When he first got there, he was a big star. Injuries unfortunately held him back.

“There's a lot of things that happen in life and you have to deal with them and find a different path to go down. He feels like he wants to go back. In England, the Premier League, it is a powerful league. A physically powerful league. He's got that power that will help Celtic. He can play in different positions. He can play on the left, centre-back, left in a three.

“Whether Kieran can adapt as well as that to go into these midfield positions that we'd like them to do, it's a different sort of thing. It's a different position where Taylor goes into.”