Greg Taylor has been a warrior for Celtic. If he leaves, he goes with all our thanks.

It’s never good when a stalwart of the Celtic team is about to leave. It’s certainly never good when he’s about to leave on a free transfer while still young enough to contribute for a few more years—or at least generate some kind of transfer fee.

But I don’t think any of us feels negatively about Greg Taylor’s impending departure. It was expected. It was necessary.

For better and for worse, Greg Taylor epitomises the reality of football—sport’s greatest meritocracy.

When we signed him, it wasn’t long after Kieran Tierney had left. We had tried several alternatives first, none of whom had been particularly effective.

Taylor came in and immediately made it clear that he could do the job. Yet, in the years that followed, we made several attempts to upgrade on him. But to his immense credit—and what must have been his immense satisfaction—he just kept seeing off all comers and performing at a high level.

That’s how it’s supposed to work. You should always look at your squad and ask, “Can we do better than this?” It’s then up to the players to respond, to fight, to make any replacement earn their place. You don’t just get handed a spot in the team because you cost a lot of money. If you want it, come and take it. The thing is, none of them could—because Taylor was simply too good for them.

But this was an area of the team we were always going to strengthen. As good as Taylor has been, better options were out there, and nobody can doubt that Kieran Tierney is a significant upgrade.

With that deal looming, Greg had a decision to make. And by all accounts—according to Rodgers—he’s made it. This isn’t a surprise. We’ve known for months that he wasn’t going to sign a new deal, that he would seek a new challenge.

Because, for Greg, the challenge at Celtic is over. He knows he will be replaced as the starting left-back, and I understand why that doesn’t suit him at this stage of his career. I understand why he feels it’s time to move on. It’s the right move for him, and it’s the right move for the club.

On the day of the last home game, Greg will take his final bow in front of the Celtic support. There’s no question he’ll get a tremendous reception. He deserves it. This is the farewell he’s earned—to go out as a winner, to go out with more medals, possibly even a treble. Because he has played his part at every stage of this. He has played his part in a lot of the success we’ve enjoyed in recent years.

Greg deserves every thanks and every congratulations if he’s found himself a new club. There’s no question he can perform at a high level for years to come, and he’s not leaving just to sit on a bench somewhere.

His fate will not be that of Kyogo or Jota when they left. Greg will pick a team where he can be the man from the start—a very fine player with vast experience.

There are players out there with far more raw talent than Taylor who never achieved what he did, who never played in the games he did, who never won the trophies he did. Because football is about more than just talent. That’s where the true meritocracy of the game comes in.

Talent alone is useless unless you’re willing to squeeze every ounce of it out of yourself, unless you’re prepared to work harder, push further, and dedicate yourself fully. Taylor has always done that. He has adapted, he has listened to his managers, he has followed instructions, and he has improved as a footballer beyond measure. He leaves as a far more composed and disciplined player than the one we brought from Kilmarnock.

Someone who gives you that much service, that much quality, for the price we paid deserves nothing but our best wishes. And that’s exactly what he will leave with.

We gave Greg Taylor a career better than he might have expected—but we didn’t hand it to him for free. He had to fight for it. He had to resist the endless rumours of his imminent replacement.

We’re bringing back a fan favourite, a player who has been competing at the highest level of the game. Greg now knows the gig is up.

He knows the great wheel of meritocracy has turned past him. But he shouldn’t see that as a defeat—because it isn’t. He shouldn’t see it as a career reversal—because it’s not. He should walk tall and be proud. We signed a Kilmarnock player, and he leaves as a Celtic player—a very good one at that.

Over and over again, he proved he was worthy of the jersey. Over and over again, he showed his rivals in the squad why he was the man who kept it.

That is not easy to do. The greatest compliment I can give Greg Taylor is that he often made it look easy. I hope we see him back in the side before the season ends. I hope the fans get the chance to pay him a proper tribute. He deserves to come on at Hampden for the final, if we get there, and take his bow in front of a grateful support. He deserves that final medal to add to the rest of them.

Few Celtic fans will call him a club great, but he played in a great Celtic team. And a team is only the sum of its parts. So, in one sense or another, he is a Celtic great—and he deserves to be remembered in that light.