Celtic 27y/o internationalist 'glad' to spurn transfer interest as he reveals love for club

Celtic defender Liam Scales has reaffirmed his commitment to the club and revealed he has never shown a desire to leave despite interest from other teams.

Scales signed a new contract with Celtic last month that ties him to the Parkhead outfit until the summer of 2030. The 27-year-old Irish centre-half has become a first-team player over the past two seasons and has made over 100 appearances since joining from Shamrock Rovers in 2021.

Apart from a season on loan at Aberdeen during the 2022/23 campaign, Scales has been in and around the team under previous boss Brendan Rodgers and current manager Martin O’Neill. He has become a full internationalist for Republic of Ireland and recently captained Celtic at Ibrox against Rangers.

Liam Scales' contract at Celtic now runs until 2030. | SNS Group

Scales is set to start on Sunday when Celtic host their Old Firm adversaries and speaking on his new deal ahead of that match, he said: "Yes, I'm delighted. I love it here. I love being over here. I love living in Scotland. I love playing for the club and the longer I can do that, the better for me. I'm really happy with it.

“It had been ongoing for a couple of months. I suppose I played a big part this season and they wanted to show that they value me. I wanted to commit to the club because, as I said, I would rather be here than anywhere else. It kind of worked for both parties."

Asked if there had ever been any opportunity throughout his time to leave Celtic permanently, Scales continued: "There may have been, but not anything that I felt like... At times, maybe when I wasn't playing under previous managers, I would have been more interested in terms of my career-wise. In hindsight, I'm glad I never did. There might have been interest, but nothing that really would have made me knock a door down to leave."

Scales was one of three players who penned new deals for Celtic last month. Midfielder Luke McCowan and James Forrest - both Scots - have extended their contracts and the defender believes it is important to have a homegrown core to Celtic’s squad.

"Yes, I do think that there's a certain value to that,” said Scales. “Lads like Cal [McGregor], James, Tony [Ralston] all came through the academy. The Scottish lads, me being Irish, there's obviously that connection to the club as well.

"I think it's important that you have enough of those sort of players to really help the lads who don't really understand the history and how the club is when they come in.

"It's obviously about finding a balance, isn't it? I think that's really important to win trophies."

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