Hoops skipper Scott Brown wants to finish his career at Celtic – and believes he could play until he is 40.

The 31-year-old has been described by Brendan Rodgers as the most influential midfielder in Scotland this season after a campaign in which he has been pivotal to the kind of football that the Northern Irishman has implanted at the club.

Today marks the tenth anniversary of Brown’s arrival at Celtic where he was signed by Gordon Strachan. The midfielder has a year left on his current deal at the club but cannot envisage playing anywhere else.

“We haven't spoken about extending, not yet,” said Brown. “'We will wait till after this season is out the way and see what happens. We have three important games left so there is no point in talking about contracts now.

“I would love to stay here as long as I possibly could and finish at this club. For me it's the best club I have ever been and the best club I ever will be at. The fanbase, the football base and training base is first class.”

Brown has revealed that he had had offers to quit Scotland and head to the riches on offer south of the border during his time at Celtic, but he has no regrets about spending his peak years at Parkhead.

“I don't need to prove anything to anybody,” he said. “People can judge me if they want, but I'm not going to prove I need to be in England. I play for Scotland, I captain my country and the only thing I want to do is lead my country to a World Cup and win trophies for Celtic.

“I've been tempted, yeah. There have been offers.

“My contract was almost up and I got a couple of offers to go down to the Premier League. But I spoke to Peter [Lawwell] and he said, 'look, we'll sit down have a chat and get it sorted.’ “He asked, 'did I want to be here?' I said yes and he assured me they wanted to keep me here as long as they could.

“For me trust and loyalty is huge. Peter has given me that, Celtic have given me that, the manager has given me that as well and I have tried to give as much back as possible.”

Having enjoyed arguably the best season of his career, Brown will be in no rush to hang up his boots.

“Gordon Strachan keeps reminding me that he played to 40,” he smiled. “I spoke to him the other day and he was saying that he told me last season that when you’re 29 and you have a bad game, you’re just rubbish, but when you’re 30 and you have a bad game then your legs have gone.

“He said ‘You’re 31 and you’re flying, you need to get it out of everybody’s head that you’re too old before your time and play as long as you can. I played until I was 40’. And I was like ‘Aye I know gaffer, we all know you played until you were 40!’

“I probably couldn’t play as well as he did when he was 40, but I’ll give it a right good go and I will play as long as I possibly can.

“I enjoy being part of a team, I enjoy coming into training, and it’s been my life for so long since I left school.

“It’s what I enjoy doing and I want to maintain that as long as I possibly can.

“I’ve thought about that and especially in the past couple of seasons when everyone was telling me I was finished, but I just thought ‘Nah, wee Stracho is right, I’m going out here to prove everyone wrong.’ I like to do that now and then.”