JASON DENAYER would love to see Lionel Messi get his wish of a Champions League return to Celtic Park and believes the Parkhead board must keep the key performers from their title-winning squad to make that happen.

The 19-year-old defender, voted Cheque Centre PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year, is set to return to his parent club Manchester City at the end of the season and is aware of the interest that exists from elsewhere in players such as Virgil van Dijk and Stefan Johansen.

However, he believes it is vital that the club keeps its biggest names to have any chance of bringing back the great European nights to Glasgow.

Barcelona icon Messi stated recently that Celtic Park is his favourite stadium on the continent and expressed a desire to play there again in the Champions League group stages, a sentiment which Denayer regards as clear evidence of the club's standing within the global game.

"I think Celtic need to be playing in the Champions League," he stated.

"I don't know if you saw quotes from Lionel Messi in the newspaper saying that he misses the atmosphere of Celtic Park in the Champions League.

"Celtic is a big club and they need to be playing in a big competition like the Champions League.

"That's a big compliment from Messi because he is the best player in the world.

"Of course we need to keep the team together at Celtic, though. You cannot change every time when you have been playing with a settled team."

Denayer admits his celebrations were muted when it became clear Celtic had won the title thanks to Aberdeen slipping up at Dundee United last Sunday, but reveals that his friend and colleague van Dijk was decidedly quieter thanks to being under the tattooist's needle at the time.

"I was with some of the players at my home and I saw on Twitter," he recalled. "It was a very good feeling to have won the league, but it was strange to have won it without playing.

"I was with John Guidetti and Virgil.

"We didn't really celebrate because Virgil was getting a tattoo, so he couldn't get too excited, but he was happy. There was a bit of pain with his pleasure."

Denayer has also spoken of his delight for Ronny Deila, the Celtic manager, in the wake of what was a challenging start to their careers in Scotland.

"I'm very pleased for the manager that we've won the league because at the start it was difficult for him and also difficult for us, but the style he wants us to play is doing well now," said the Belgian.

"We won the league and we won the League Cup, so I am happy for him.

"Everything comes with time and the manager and a number of the players, including myself, were new, so we needed to have time to play with the style he wants."