OPINION
Few would have predicted the impact Celtic signing Oliver Burke would have made at the club when he arrived in January.
The 21-year-old was not a first team regular at parent club West Brom, so many Hoops supporters would have rightly questioned why Brendan Rodgers was keen on signing the youngster on loan.
However, he has since proved any doubters wrong by scoring three goals and providing three assists in the seven appearances he has made for the club since he joined.
Not bad for a player considered a fringe figure at West Brom, right?
Plenty of Celtic fans will definitely want Burke to stay beyond the end of his current spell at Ibrox, but Rodgers’ latest admission has essentially poured cold water over the supporters’ hopes of keeping him.
“It would be great for Celtic if he did [stay]. But the reality is that the improvements he will make here over the course of the next six months will probably excite West Brom,” he said, as quoted by the Scottish Sun.
“If they get promoted then probably his wages change anyway. So he helps us for now and we help them.”
Burke is making a real impact at Celtic and the last thing the fans would want is for West Brom to reap the rewards of his stint with the club, but if this admission from the manager is anything to go by, then the supporters will be waving goodbye to the young dazzler a lot sooner than they would have hoped.
Rodgers obviously wants Burke to stay for as long as he can but it is evident that he knows that this is not possible – this is a real shame, as the dazzler would have thrived if he were to stay at Celtic for the long haul.