Hibernian turn down second Celtic offer for McGinn
Last updated 11th Jul 2018
Celtic have failed with an improved offer for Hibernian midfielder John McGinn.
Hibs head coach Neil Lennon confirmed the club had rejected Celtic's latest offer for the Scotland international, who is entering the final year of his contract.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has earmarked the 23-year-old as one of his key summer targets after losing another Scotland midfielder, Stuart Armstrong, to Southampton.
Lennon said: “We have rejected two bids from Celtic. Our club has a valuation of the player. I don't know what that is, but obviously Celtic have not met the valuation that Hibs want.”
The latest bid has come in the build-up to Hibernian's Europa League opener against NSI Runavik of the Faeroe Islands at Easter Road on Thursday.
But Lennon is sure McGinn will be in the right frame of mind to play after confirming he would be in his squad.
“He's been all right,” said Lennon, who moved from Leicester to Celtic after a protracted transfer saga.
“Obviously it is difficult. Listen, I have been a player myself, so it's difficult dealing with speculation.
“Obviously when a club as big as Celtic come in for you there is always that anticipation, from his point of view, of maybe making that step forward, if you want to call it that.
“However, he has to be professional. We have had a couple of charts over the piece about it. He will just have to wait and see how it develops because he is our player, and he's a very important player for us."