Chris Sutton believes that Celtic stalwart Scott Brown will be leaving in the summer as he closes in on 500 appearances for his club.
The 33-year-old is out of contract in the summer and has been linked with a move to US teams Sporting Kansas City and Minnesota United by the Scottish Sun.
Talking on BT Sport on Wednesday night’s coverage of Celtic’s 1-1 draw with Motherwell, Sutton said, “It looks like he’ll be on his way otherwise why wouldn’t you tie a key player down?
“It’s a surprise to me.”
OPINION
Just this week Brendan Rodgers was saying that Brown had an important role to play with the club, but with his contract expiring in the summer he is free to talk to overseas club about a pre-contract deal from January. If Celtic were going to tie him down with a new deal you do think it would have been done by now. There’s no way of knowing which side this is coming from. You imagine that Celtic would want to extend his contract, even if it’s just for another year. Brown, though, might be thinking that at 33-years-old and after hitting 500 appearances for Celtic, it’s time to take a lucrative contract where the football isn’t quite so fierce. A move to the States or to Australia – another place he’s been linked to recently – could be the perfect move for him at this point in his career. If he does go, he’ll go down as one of the most important Celtic players of the Rodgers era. He’s given everything for Celtic and has been a constant thorn in the side of rivals Rangers. Their fans might be the only ones pleased to see him go.