AIDEN McGEADY was today rewarded for his sensational season when he signed a bumper new five-year contract.

It is the second time since Gordon Strachan arrived to take over as manager that the 22-year-old has been given a major wage increase.

Only 17 months ago the Republic of Ireland international extended his existing contract by four-and-a-half years. That would have taken him through to the summer of 2011. But this latest contract will run until 2013.

McGeady said: "I'm delighted. Discussions have been ongoing for a while now and everyone involved is pleased with the outcome. I'm looking forward to spending the next few years of my career here at Celtic."

It is a major statement of intent by the SPL champions that, despite serious interest from England and beyond, they have retained their best talents. In January they got Artur Boruc's name on a new contract which extended his existing deal until 2011.

Chief executive Peter Lawwell said: "Our priority has always been to try to keep our best players at the club and the board is delighted to support Gordon in his plans for the future by securing Aiden on this long-term agreement.

"Aiden's performances in recent seasons have made him the outstanding player in Scottish football and clearly we are delighted that he has committed his long-term future to the club.

"It is particularly satisfying that Aiden has become such a success having come through the ranks of our youth development programme.

"While he himself deserves immense praise for all he has done, he is also a real tribute to all those people who have assisted his development including, of course, the great Tommy Burns.

"With Scotland's player of the year in Aiden McGeady and the SPL's top scorer Scott McDonald having now agreed new extended contracts, we are delighted that we have secured the services of two of the finest players in Scotland.

"Clearly, we will also continue to look to make quality additions to our squad and we are pleased to have done this in recent days with the signing of Georgios Samaras, someone who was so crucial to our success last season."

Now the focus switches back to transfer targets.

The long-running quest to sign Auxerre central defender Gabriel Tamas still has a way to go even though Lawwell is due to meet some of the 24-year-old Romanian's represen-tatives in Paris later today.

Celtic realised from the outset that this transfer was going to be difficult, but believe it is worth the effort and have been prepared to sit in for the long haul.

Agreeing a fee with Auxerre - expected to be between £3m and £4m - will be relatively simple compared to unravelling the web of agents representing the much-travelled defender.

Celtic are also awaiting news on their bid for Roma full-back Vitorino Gabriel Antunes as newly-promoted Lecce try to land him on loan.

While Lawwell continues to negotiate, Strachan will head to England tomorrow morning for the testimonial match at Southampton.