Celtic have confirmed the contract extensions for Alistair Johnston and James Forrest. The Scottish Champions confirmed deals for the 26-year-old full back and the 33-year-old winger in the last few days as Brendan Rodgers’ side moved to secure the future of two first team figures.
Johnston has signed a deal until 2029 and he told the Celtic website that he was delighted to secure his longterm future to the club.
“I am just delighted to extend my contract with Celtic. I got a brilliant welcome to the club in 2022 and ever since I have had the best of times, loving every minute as part of such a great institution and I wanted to continue to be part of that.
“It’s an absolute honour to pull that famous jersey on every week and to have achieved so much success with my team-mates already has been so satisfying. But of course, we want more and that is our focus.
“It is a real delight to be working day in, day out in such a great set-up, working with the gaffer and the staff who have such ambition for success and with such a great group of lads in the team.
“Of course my team-mates have been everything to me – it is a brilliant dressing room I am privileged to be part of, with real quality guys beside me and I know we are all, collectively looking to work as hard as we can to bring our fans even more success over the next few years.”
Johnston has been a real steal by Celtic, stepping in at Ibrox to make his debut before pushing on and making the right back berth his own after taking over from Josip Juranovic. The quality of Johnston means that Tony Ralston, who has recently impressed for Scotland, has been forced to play second fiddle to the Canadian.
Forrest, meanwhile, confirmed a deal to keep him at the club until next summer – a deal which could see him complete his playing career with Celtic. Speaking to the Celtic website, Forrest promised to continue working hard and making an impact.
“It’s unbelievable. I’ve loved every minute of being here, from being a wee boy coming through the youth and all the ups that I’ve had playing for the first team.
“I’m just delighted that I’ve managed to work hard and hopefully I can keep contributing to the team for another year.
“There’s always been great players and managers at this club, and being a part of this club is a great feeling and once I finish my career I’ll properly look back and think about it all.
“When you’re in the bubble of it, there’s nothing better than playing and winning things here.”
