Seagulls’ swoop could speed up Celtic on move for Hibs midfielder John McGinn

BRIGHTON are ready to test the level of Celtic’s desire to sign John McGinn by tabling a £3.5m bid with Hibs for his services.

The Hoops have already had three offers for the Scotland internationalist rejected for falling short of the Edinburgh club’s valuation.

With 33% of any sale due to go to his former employers, St Mirren, and a further 10% to the player, a deal of some £2m holds little appeal to Hibs boss Neil Lennon.

However, while he has publicly mentioned the figure of £5m, it is understood that £3.5m could be enough to get it done.

That’s a level at which English Premier League Brighton, who have already been in touch with Hibs about the player, would be happy to get involved.

The sticking block is that McGinn fancies going to Celtic, with whom he has family connections through grandfather Jack, who was the club chairman.

They are stronger than his long term desire to try his luck in England and, with just one year of his deal remaining at Easter Road, the 23-year-old is in a position to hold fire.

One obvious solution would be for the Hoops to meet Hibs price for the player, thus eliminating the risk of missing out on a player they clearly like the look of.

Rodgers, though, has the make-up of the whole squad to concern himself with and might not be inclined to budge.

Specifically, he hinted he might be more interested in waiting to see who becomes available once the English window shuts at the end of this week.

Patrick Roberts, a former loan hero at Celtic Park, among potential targets.

“I think Patrick is one of those players you look at and then you see what happens over the next period of time,” said the Celtic manager.

“He has obviously been away with Man City and he is there. Our eyes are open to lots of options.

“Last season, he was unfortunate because early on he sustained a really bad injury and it was then obviously difficult for him.

“But he is a fantastic player and we are always going to be interested in top-class players.

“That is maybe where the advantage will come with the window down south shutting down early.

“By that stage, players will know where they are at their own clubs. So it is just a case of looking and waiting to see what happens.”

Signing a new right-back is, meanwhile, understood to be a priority for Rodgers ahead of the hoped-for Champions League group campaign.

Cristian Gamboa filled in for Mikael Lustig in the early European ties, but the Hoops manager wants another option.