Is Mikael Lustig’s Celtic career over after Brendan Rodgers snubs him in favour of Jonny Hayes?

Add as preferred source on Google

Celtic defender Mikael Lustig was an unused substitute in the 1-0 win over Kilmarnock at the weekend.

On Sunday afternoon, Celtic scraped past Kilmarnock thanks to a 90th minute winner from Scott Brown.

But the talking point before the game was Brendan Rodgers’ bizarre selection at left-back.

With many injury concerns, Celtic fans would have expected Mikael Lustig to start at right-back with Jeremy Toljan at left-back.

But instead, Toljan started in his preferred right-back slot with natural winger Jonny Hayes playing at left-back.

This was a peculiar decision and one that may indicate that Lustig is set to leave Celtic in the summer.

Lustig is out of contract at the end of the season and has been strongly linked with a move to Malmo.

Fotboll Direkt reports that the Sweden international has been offered a pre-contract deal with the Allsvenskan outfit.

In the January window, Rodgers moved to bring in Toljan, who already looks to have replaced Lustig at right-back.

And even though Toljan is only on loan, it seems that Celtic are preparing for life without Lustig for the long-term future.

The 32-year-old has been a loyal servant for Celtic since his 2012 switch from Rosenborg, racking up over 250 appearances for the club.

But his performances have criticised at times this season and Rodgers’ decision to bench him at the weekend could be a sign that he will leave in the summer.