Neil Lennon has denied Celtic made a bid for Andraz Sporar but admitted his interest in the Slovan Bratislava striker.
The Slovakian club claimed Celtic had shown “huge interest” in the 25-year-old and had made an offer but faced competition from “other big clubs from France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Belgium”.
The Slovenia international has scored 20 goals this season, including five in the Europa League group stages, second only to Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos, and his club want at least £6million for him.
Lennon said: “We haven’t made a bid. We are looking at options going forward but there’s been no bid from us. He is an option and one of a number we are looking at.”
Lennon is looking for a striker to provide cover for Odsonne Edouard, with Leigh Griffiths and Bayo both struggling for fitness throughout this year.
But his team consolidated their position at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership with a midweek victory against Hearts and are looking for a 10th straight league win when Aberdeen visit Celtic Park on Saturday.
The champions won 4-0 at Pittodrie in October but Lennon is steeling himself for a more resilient opponent this time round.
“Since we have played them last time they have been pretty consistent, the Hibs game was a shock result considering the form they have shown,” he said.
“Derek (McInnes) is quite a shrewd manager, I don’t hide my admiration for him.
“They might change the way they play, he has had a week to work on it, and in (Sam) Cosgrove they have one of the best goalscorers in the country, he is having a stellar season.”
Meanwhile, Lennon was bemused by comments from Hearts midfielder Loic Damour on his captain after the Frenchman claimed Scott Brown had been the referee when Celtic played Hearts.
Damour also told the Edinburgh Evening News: “Apparently he is like the king of the league because he can do whatever he wants on the pitch and the referee never says anything. He is the referee on the pitch and that is seemingly normal here.”
“I have no idea what that means,” Lennon said. “The King of Scotland? Maybe in footballing terms he has been for quite a while but I don’t know what he means about refereeing.
“We were quite exasperated by some of the refereeing decisions the other night and it was certainly nothing to do with Browny.”
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