A new contract for Greg Taylor is “a real priority” for Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers.

The 26-year-old left-back is in the final year of his current deal, having joined the Scottish champions from Kilmarnock in 2019.

“He’s a fantastic player for us,” said Rodgers. “How he makes that position work, how we want it to look, he’s first class.

“He knows we really want him to stay and hopefully between his representatives and the club we can organise that because he is a player that I really rate.

“I really like everything about Greg. I love his personality, I love his spirit, I love how he plays the game of course.”

Taylor has played for all bar 15 minutes as Celtic have opened the season with five successive victories and he is fit to face Hearts on Saturday after withdrawing from the latest Scotland squad.

Barcelona left-back Alex Valle, 20, joined on loan before the close of the transfer window but has yet to feature.

“He plays the game like a midfield player coming from that outside position in, so he really makes it difficult for the opposition,” added Rodgers on Taylor.

“Technically strong. For what you’d say small in stature he competes in his duels, he wins headers.

“I really hope that we can tie him down. In this period now he would be a real priority for us to try and get something sorted.”