Callum McGregor remains fully focused on Celtic and the new season | OneFootball

The good news is that Calmac seems focused on pre-season and beyond, judging by his comments in his CelticPlayer interview…

Callum McGregor has been the subject of many rumours regarding his future at the club, with many believing, after his decision to change agents, that he could be about to reunite with former boss Brendan Rodgers in Saudi Arabia.

But speaking in the run up to last night’s pre-season friendly with Sporting CP, the serial winning Celtic captain seemed to be fully focussed on his pre season activities and the new season beyond as he laid down the standards he expects from within the squad.

Callum McGregor of Celtic FC (L) vies with Geny Catamo of Sporting CP (R) for the ball possession during the Sporting CP v Celtic FC Pre-Season Friendly match at Estadio Algarve on July 14, 2026 in Faro, Portugal. (Photo by Carlos Rodrigues)

The skipper said in an interview with Celtic TV AKA CelticPlayer:  “Yeah, basically, can we be the best version of Celtic we can be? I think that’s always the start point, obviously, there’ll be challenges for the season, hopefully, not as many as what we had last season, but, for sure there will be challenges, there’ll be, there’ll be disappointment, I’ve pretty much said it in every preseason trip.

“At some point in the season, we will all be tested, the character will be tested, the team will be tested in that sense, so it’s how we’re reacting, and deal with pressure, and deal with setbacks.

“So a lot of the work that you do in preseason, when you’re tired, when the sessions are long, it’s finding that, something mental’s trying to get through it, and that’s what will carry us through difficult moments throughout the season.”

Callum McGregor of Celtic FC (L) vies with Ricardo Mangas of Sporting CP (R) for the ball possession during the Sporting CP v Celtic FC Pre-Season Friendly match at Estadio Algarve on July 14, 2026 in Faro, Portugal. (Photo by Carlos Rodrigues Getty Images)

Calmac added: “So, you know, initially, when we start, everyone is the perfect idea of how we want the team to look, and for sure we’re always working, trying to get that as good as we can be, you know, fast attacking football, trying to score loads of goals, trying to be good on counter-press, no conceding as many goals as we can.

“So we have all those targets that we always start with. Then again, probably last season, that was the most pleasing aspect of that is how the players dealt with adversity. So we will need that again. But like I said, hopefully it’s sort of fewer times throughout the season because we are being dominant.”

Issa Doumbia of Sporting CP (L) vies with Callum McGregor of Celtic FC (R) for the ball possession during the Sporting CP v Celtic FC Pre-Season Friendly match at Estadio Algarve on July 14, 2026 in Faro, Portugal. (Photo by Carlos Rodrigues Getty Images)

Pressed on if he was “motivated” to defend the Scottish title, the skipper offered a carefully-worded response – insisting it was the job of every Hoops’ star.

He told the CelticPlayer: “I think that’s the job of a Celtic player, is that we don’t get tired of winning, because we’ve set ourself an unbelievable standard over the last 14, 15 years that have been successful, won numerous amounts of titles, trophies, trying to push all the time in sort of European football to be as good as we can be.

“And all that does is bring in bigger expectation, a bigger target on your back, so you then have to defend that. It’s hard as it was last season. to win them, you then have to work even harder to defend it. So, the players and the core group that have been there for a long time, they understand that.

“And they have to drive that level. So, yeah, as a Celtic player, you can never ever be able to winning, and trying to be the best that you can be, and trying to improve one as an individual, and then two collectively.”

Midseason Friendly, Tolka Park, Dublin Shelbourne vs Celtic Callum McGregor and Cameron Carter-Vickers of Celtic. 7/7/2026. Photo IMAGO

Strong and committed words, as you would expect from a leader such as Callum McGregor, but doubts will still remain over his future at the club, at least until the transfer window closes. And it could be the club’s activities in the remaining weeks of the transfer window that could make his mind up one way or another.

Just An Ordinary Bhoy

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