He's played 115 games for Celtic in three seasons. He's won seven trophies. That kind of return in terms of silverware is acceptable for any player. However, Cameron Carter-Vickers is more than just any player.

The USA international defensive lynchpin found a football and spiritual home in Glasgow's east end. One wonders if Carter-Vickers has a nickname in G40, if not then his teammates should really think about calling him Bostik. After all, he is the glue that has held Celtic's central defence together firstly for two years under Australian Ange Postecoglou and then the season just past under Brendan Rodgers. He's become a pivotal and mainstay of the club in such a short period of time and he was sorely missed this campaign as injury restricted him to just 21 appearances in all competitions this season.

Carter Vickers is:

a) A colossus.

b) A vital cog in the green and white machine.

c) A rock.

Perm one from three of the above at any given time to describe him. Yes, Carter-Vickers has continued to answer Celtic's call.

READ MORE: Why Celtic's best central defender is a 'throwback'

Former Celtic defender Steven Pressley recently labelled him a throwback. He is. Pressley insists that Carter-Vickers was a good old-fashioned no-nonsense centre-half who you could hang your hat on.

Pressley said: "Carter-Vickers does the basics very well and people forget about that sometimes. When I look at football, anticipation is such a key factor. Carter-Vickers is a throwback. He anticipates things very well. He has been exposed to so much football and has developed in so many aspects.

"In the academies now, the game is so pure and we sometimes don’t develop players who anticipate and smell danger. I want young defenders to be left to figure things out and learn to defend one-on-one. That’s where growth comes from."

Celtic have been hanging their proverbial hat on Carter-Vickers since he arrived initially on loan from Tottenham Hotspur in 2021. Carter Vickers's growth as a Celtic player has been exponential. Despite reputed interest from England and Turkey, Carter-Vickers signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with Celtic last January, which ties him to the Parkhead club until 2029. It was a shrewd by the men in green and white. However, it would appear that the player is in no mood to seek a new challenge when all his career boxes are currently being ticked with Celtic at both club and international level.

(Image: Agency)

As Carter-Vickers stated whilst on USA duty: "Celtic is a massive club, one thing I like about it is the pressure is always there.

“The title race this year got a bit close and you could see from our fans that it would have been unacceptable to lose it. That helps you and keeps you on your game."

Carter-Vickers has been on his game for three years and then some in Glasgow. It's the use of the word 'unacceptable' that is most telling here. Losing the title to Rangers will have represented a failure in the eyes of the defender. That's exactly what Rodgers and the Celtic supporters want to hear. It's how Carter-Vickers has driven his own impeccable standards up during his three-year stint in Scotland. It is also largely how he has made the PFA Scotland Team of the Year in two of those seasons. Like the two Celtic managers he has served under thus far, he has developed a serial winners' mentality.

It's now shaping up to be another busy summer for the 26-year-old stopper, who remains hopeful of representing the USA at the Copa America. The age-old argument that playing in Scotland is detrimental to Celtic players' international ambitions has recently been spouted in the case of Matt O'Riley who was snubbed for Denmark's Euro 2024 squad. The contrary or counter-argument is provided by Carter-Vickers.

The players had eight international caps in four years to his name before joining Celtic three years ago. That tally has since doubled as the Celt featured at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar as well as during the Stars and Stripes' recent run to a third-straight CONCACAF Nations League title. Now Carter-Vickers is gearing up for home friendlies against Colombia and Brazil before Gregg Berhalter's squad is trimmed ahead of the 2024 Copa America tournament where the hosts face Panama, Bolivia and Uruguay.

If that wasn't exciting enough for the American, there is also the new Swiss-model Champions League format to look forward to with Celtic. The Scottish champions will enter the competition at the league phase formerly the group stages and are guaranteed at least eight games at the top table of European football.

READ MORE: Cameron Carter-Vickers through the eyes of his former coaches

It's shaping up to be a huge summer for Rodgers and Celtic. Carter-Vickers is the first to acknowledge that it was the Northern Irishman's man-management skills that brought about the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup double. Now having had a full season to assess his squad, Rodgers will be embarking on a rebuilding job of his own. He will certainly want to mould and fashion a Celtic side in his own image.

As Carter Vickers pointed out: "I've really enjoyed working with Brendan this year. One thing he’s done well, kind of throughout the season, he’s kind of keeping us as a group calm and confident. In Glasgow, there’s a lot of talk and it’s easy to get sucked into being negative or maybe losing your head a little bit but the one thing he’s done well is keeping a calmness to the group."

(Image: Agency)

Carter-Vickers is the epitome and very definition of calm in Rodgers's Celtic team. Yet once again Celtic will find themselves in the transfer market for a central defender to go into European football's premier club tournament. It's become par for the course for Carter-Vickers who has been paired with the likes of Carl Starfelt, Stephen Welsh, Yuki Kobayashi, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Maik Nawrocki, and Liam Scales since he arrived in Scottish football.

Thankfully Carter-Vickers has been the one constant at the back of the Celtic pack. Ironically Celtic always seems to be looking for a stopper in the Carter-Vickers ilk to completely complement him. This summer will be no different. The more and more you look at it the £6 million Celtic shelled out for Carter-Vickers in the summer of 2022 is looking every inch a steal.

As Carter-Vickers said: "I have been here three seasons now and we always tend to sign a lot of players. That’s just part of it. Since I have been here every player we have signed has come here with the right attitude and tried to help the team as much as they can. That’s all you’re looking for."

Well, actually what Celtic are looking for this summer is to sign a Carter-Vickers clone. If losing the Scottish Premiership title to Rangers is unacceptable then Rodgers and the Celtic recruitment team unearthing Carter Vickers 2.0 would be deemed perfectly acceptable.