Brendan Rodgers has been discussing the exit of Rocco Vata to Watford this summer after Celtic made advances to tie him down to a new contract.
Vata made his debut for the Bhoys under Ange Postecoglou back in 2022 but transfer speculation consistently followed him around and there was always talk of a potential exit.
He’s committed his future to the English Championship club and Celtic will only receive training compensation as a result.
The young attacker subsequently shared on Instagram that he felt he had left the club ‘earlier than expected’.
Rodgers has confirmed that the Bhoys did try to keep him at the club and offered him a role within the first-team squad. It appears Vata was being lined up for a role similar to Hyeongyu Oh’s.
Rodgers said [Herald Sport, 12/07 print edition, page 6]: “Daniel Kelly like Rocco Vata were both offered a good deal, which is valued and with the greatest respect, I have worked with young players and I know the levels of young players and where they’re at from a technical perspective and a financial perspective.
“Both those boys were offered deals by the club. Rocco was offered it and he was told that he was going to be one of the three strikers at Celtic. He decided that it wasn’t going to be for him. So he then left Celtic. That is absolutely fine and we wish him all the very best.”
It’s not ideal to see a young talent with first-team potential leave the club at just 19 but if Celtic feel they made a fair offer – both in terms of finances and development – and he didn’t take it, not much can be done.
It’ll be interesting to see how Vata fares in the English Championship and what amount of minutes he gets at Watford this season.
The Bhoys boss went on to further discuss the situation now facing Kelly, whose contract expires at the end of the calendar year. It doesn’t sound hopeful on that front either.
Celtic continue to find it difficult to bridge the gap between the Academy ranks and the senior squad. Talents either don’t show the required development or end up leaving for more illustrious leagues.
It’s a frustrating pattern and hopefully one that key staff at the club can find a solution for.
