JAMES Forrest has confirmed he has opened talks with Celtic about a new contract and revealed he is keen to pledge his long-term future to the Parkhead club.
Forrest’s current deal with the Scottish champions expires at the end of next year and his manager Ronny Deila is keen to tie him up on a new agreement before then.
The 24-year-old winger, whose career has been blighted by injuries, has rediscovered his best form in the 2015/16 campaign and forced his way back into the Scotland team.
He said: “We are talking. I want to stay at Celtic. Everything you do every day is enjoyable and I want to stay here. A lot of the boys feel the same because it’s such a big club.
“I think I have a year and two months left and I am pretty confident it can be sorted. As I say, it’s a big club and you don’t get much better than the European nights here.
“Obviously, I’m still at Celtic and it’s a great club, a big club. We are in Europe and it’s a great place to be.”
Forrest scored his first goal of the season in the 3-1 win over Aberdeen at Parkhead on Saturday to help send Celtic six points clear at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership table.
He is set to play a key role for his side in their Europa League rematch with Norwegian rivals Molde in Glasgow on Thursday night.
Deila’s side was heavily criticised after losing 3-1 to the Tippeligaen club managed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last month and Forrest is keen for them to bounce back with a win.
The forward, who has been a member of the first team at Celtic for five years, revealed that being able to play in European is a huge attraction in him committing his future to the Glasgow club.
He said: “In the last year I’ve kicked on and I want to keep doing that. I really want to play more games and enjoy these massive games in Europe.
“I love them with Celtic and hopefully with Scotland as well. I just want to keep going.”
“Since pre-season, it’s been going really well and I just want it to continue. I’ll keep working hard and reap the benefits from that.”
Meanwhile, Forrest has expressed his happiness with a win over an Aberdeen side which led the top flight earlier in the season and with getting his name on the scoresheet.
Forrest added: “We played really well from start to finish on Saturday and that’s credit to everyone from the defence right through to the forwards. We created a lot of chances and are happy with the win.
“We had a lot of chances before they scored their goal. We were maybe a wee bit sloppy with them scoring at the end, but we are delighted with the three points. It was a good performance.”
“I was delighted to score. It was a good run by Tom (Rogic). He held onto the ball really well and played it at the right time. It was a good assist from him.”
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