THE five year contract extension that Callum McGregor signed yesterday is richly deserved - and is a great bit of business by Celtic.

I am sure that Callum, the club and the supporters will all be delighted.

It wasn’t that long ago that he was farmed out to English League One club Notts County on loan. But that aided his development.

He has come on leaps and bounds under Brendan Rodgers in the last couple of seasons. This season in particular.

Callum has firmly established himself as a first choice player in midfield in the past five months.

I think the big difference in him is that he is a lot fitter than he was before. That helps him play to a certain level and intensity.

It is all very well having natural talent, but if you can’t play with the necessary intensity then you won’t push on.

The level of fitness he now has, allied to the ability he has got, has made him the top player he has become.

He passes the ball superbly, reads the game well and has an eye for goal. I imagine he must be one of the first names down on the team sheet every week.

A few English Premier League clubs, not least Bournemouth, had been linked with Callum, but I don’t think he ever considered leaving.

There was maybe interest in him, but he didn’t allow it to affect his displays.

If it had, I doubt he would have been able to produce the performances that he has domestically, in Europe and at international level.

There is no doubt if Callum carries on the way he is going he will become a great Celtic player.

He would be a strong contender to succeed Scott Brown as captain when the midfielder moves on or retires.

Kieran Tierney, of course, may have something to say about that.

Callum has been extremely dominant in midfield. Ironically, Brendan pushed Brown a bit forward against Motherwell on Wednesday night.

Apart from the Salzburg game, when all the team struggled, Callum has been excellent in the deeper role.

He does well wherever he plays, but he seems to have found his niche in that position, particularly domestically. He will only get better, too.

He shouldn’t make the mistake of getting ahead of himself, but he is a level-headed individual and I don’t think there is any danger of that happening.

The way he is progressing augurs well for Celtic and the boy himself. This contract is merited.

IT was good to see no fewer than four players who had come through the youth ranks at Celtic playing in the Ladbrokes Premiership game against Motherwell at Parkhead on Wednesday night – James Forrest, Mikey Johnston, McGregor and Anthony Ralston.

I was especially pleased for Ralston as he seems to have lost his way a bit of late.

After playing against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League group stages last season the right back seems to have gone down the pecking order a little bit. He went out on loan to Dundee United last season.

The start and goal against Motherwell will have done him the world of good. Hopefully he can get involved on a more regular basis. Mikael Lustig can’t go on forever.

Everyone at the academy, especially Chris McCart, deserves a special mention for the kids coming through.

Chris will have been as pleased as anyone to Johnston and Ralston joining the lads who are more established. Having so many home-grown players in a first team at such a big club doesn’t happen very often.

Just think, there could be five academy graduates, half of the outfield players, in the team when Tierney returns from injury.