Amid the perennial speculation regarding his long-term future, Brendan Rodgers offered a telling riposte this weekend well aware from the glare of cameras and tape recorders.

Spotted at the side of the pitch during a Celtic under-14 game on Sunday afternoon, Rodgers wanted to oversee the next generation currently nestled in the underbelly of the club.

Having equalled a record that has stood for a century the day before and with a meeting against one of the fabled superpowers of European football just days later, Rodgers would well have had other matters on his mind.

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His ultimate aim, however, is to leave a legacy at Celtic. His ultimate ambition will be to create a team capable of mixing it at Champions League football and doing so by playing in a certain style. The other aspect is to develop players who are capable of growing into that team.

Whether or not he is still at Celtic to oversee any who realise that journey from youth to first-team football remains to be seen but it points to a long-term vision that he has for the Parkhead side.

On the day in which the club announced a six-year deal for Kieran Tierney, Rodgers will look to implement his ideas at the very youngest age groups.

“We are trying to build something from top to tail here,” he said. “These young guys are at the beginning of their journey. To me, that [journey] doesn’t just start when they come in at 16. It is at that age when they are trying to understand the concept of how the first team play, tactics, the understanding of the game.

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“I think it is important for the players and the boys, especially in modern football where lots of clubs seem to work in a six week cycle within which you lose four or five games and are out of a job. I don’t want the kids to think like that, I want them to think they have a hope here, that there is one vision at the club and we are trying to get them into the first team.

“To some managers it doesn’t really matter because they think ‘when these ones are 17, 18 I’ll be gone.’ I don’t see it like that. It is a legacy for me, however long I am here, is to give my very best for the duration. If you plant the seed now, ok I might see the fruits of that but someone else will, Celtic will, and that’s important to me. If I am helping that then that’s a duty of care.”

Meanwhile, Rodgers has admitted that the injury problems Bayern have has offered cautious encouragement for Celtic although he is well aware of the alternative options.

“If you are missing one of the world’s best strikers and one of the leading players in the world over the last decade then of course, it gives you that bit of hope,” said the Celtic manager. “Ok, they replace one with a £60m loanee in Rodriguez who is a big talent and someone else will come in, like a Vidal, who is a good player.

“But they are both exceptional players. Those teams, like the best teams, are all about the collective so this is a big test for us.”