Charly Musonda cuts Celtic loan short with Brendan Rodgers unable to guarantee him game time

The loan deal that saw Charly Musonda move from Chelsea to Celtic on an 18-month contract has been cut short because Brendan Rodgers has been unable to guarantee the Belgian midfielder sufficient game time. Telegraph Sport has reported previously that Chelsea were unhappy about the 21-year-old’s lack of action, but Rodgers said that his connection with Stamford Bridge remained amicable.

“Chelsea actually came to me and to us about the possibility of taking Charly,” he said. “Since I became a manager I’ve taken six players from them on loan. Young Liam Bridcutt, a player who is at Nottingham Forest now, and Jack Cork came in and did very well.

“Ryan Bertrand, I took when he was 18 to Reading and he played 44 games. Victor Moses came and played 19 games for me in the season we nearly won the title at Liverpool. He was unfortunate he couldn’t get in front of Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho but he still had a good grounding.

“The next year he went out to Stoke and played 19 games, so he got the experience. Josh McEachran didn’t quite work out for a number of reasons and also Charly. So, I’ve got great relations there with the people but, of course, it’s a business for them as well and Charly needs to be playing.

“On Monday I flew to London and had a meeting with Chelsea about the football and business sides. My relations there are very strong. Charly signed an 18-month loan deal with a break at the end of the season to discuss where it’s at and we both felt that, probably for what he needs at this stage of his career – and what I’d hope to give him – I can’t guarantee.

“Charly’s not 17 or 18, like Pat Roberts was when he came in. He’s older and he’s at a stage where he needs to play and play week in, week out and unfortunately, I couldn’t guarantee him that. We had a look at it and it was best for him to go back and probably pick up a loan somewhere else.

“You can only play 11 players and in the position that’s probably Charly’s best, Callum McGregor’s playing brilliantly.

“I won’t just bring players in on loan and think I have to play them. I bring them in because I think they can play and help us but if that spurs on other players to really jump and play, then unfortunately that’s why his game time was limited. And, of course, if I can’t then guarantee it for next year then I have to be honest as well.”

Kieran Tierney, meanwhile, is at the other end of the playing scale from Musonda, with 59 appearances for Celtic and Scotland this season. He was replaced seven minutes into the second half in Sunday’s 1-0 home defeat by Aberdeen because of the toll taken on him by so many outings.

Nevertheless, he will start against Motherwell in the William Hill Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park on Saturday, to be watched by scouts from Atletico Madrid, the Europa League winners and runners-up in La Liga.

“There is a dearth of good left-backs and, with Kieran’s qualities and huge potential still as a young player, that is always going to draw the eyes of top teams,” Rodgers said. “It doesn’t bother him. He is developing very well and is loving every minute. He has a really good temperament and that is getting better in big games. That’s important. Tactically, he understands the game much better.

“Physically, he can cope with any league in the world. He has got stronger and faster. He’s a really exceptional young guy. He’s very stable, his home life and family are Celtic mad.”

Asked if it was not inevitable that Tierney would hit a ceiling in the Scottish game, Rodgers said: “Maybe at some point, but I don’t think it’s now. At the moment he’s jumping from the youth team into the level of players we have here and he’s developing and improving.

“He could move to a number of clubs if he wanted but it’s about it being the right club. An opportunity might come for him that he will have to look at and the club will look at but at the moment it’s not even a conversation. We chat and talk and he’s living the dream, really. He’s not ready to end it now.”