Ex-Celtic striker Frank McAvennie has declared winger Liel Abada is "not ready" to play in the Premier League.

The 21-year-old has been linked with a move to Southampton recently, with the Saints reportedly willing to pay £10million for the forward.

However, McAvennie feels the Israel international still needs to develop his game and that the best place to do that is at the Hoops.

Speaking to Football Insider, he said: "It is inevitable players move on but he is only a young boy.

"He is at a big club and doing well and all of a sudden agents are creeping in.

"It is not going to happen, he will not go to any bigger club than Celtic. That is if he even wants to leave.

"He is only 21, I think Ange is doing well with him.

"He was terrible for a couple of games and the manager had every right to leave him out. Then when he brings him back he does well.

"I do not think it will bother Ange too much. If he goes somewhere else he will be like another player.

"Abada is not ready to go to the Premier League. He is at a huge club, the fans love him and he has got to settle down."

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Meanwhile, Celtic hero Stiliyan Petrov has opened up on John Barnes' times as manager of the club, claiming "there was always fighting" going on between the players.

The Bulgarian was signed by the former England international in 1999, who was undertaking his first job in management, but things quickly started to go pear-shaped.

Barnes only lasted eight months and was sacked after the Parkhead side's Scottish Cup defeat to Inverness.

And Petrov has detailed the toxic atmosphere in the dressing room at that time.

Speaking to FourFourTwo, he said: "I couldn't understand much of what was going on, due to the language barrier, but there was always fighting.

"I could see little cliques and problems. He couldn't control the powerful characters. It was John's first job since retiring as a player, and a big one for him.

"The team was winning, but we had many internal issues. The players weren't giving everything for him.

"Sometimes a job can come a bit too early for someone, but that doesn't mean they're a bad manager."