Hibernian manager Neil Lennon has confirmed his club has turned down two bids from Scottish champions for John McGinn as it didn’t match their valuation.
While the Hibs boss didn’t reveal how much the club’s asking price is for the player, he simply stated that Celtic’s offer fell short of their requirement.
Celtic are quite interested in the 23-year-old’s signature, who has entered into the final year of his deal at Easter Road.
“We have rejected two bids from Celtic,” said Lennon, as quoted by Sky Sports.
“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.”
Hibs already rebuffed an opening £1.5 million bid for the Scottish midfielder, and as per a report from Sky Sports, a second offer around £1.75 million has also been rejected.
McGinn, capped nine times at the senior level for Scotland, is an exceptional midfielder and was a key part of Hibs campaign last season.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has earmarked the 23-year-old as one of his key summer targets after the exit of Stuart Armstrong to Southampton this summer.
Hibs will face NSI Runavik in the Europa League qualifier and Lennon believes that McGinn will be in the right frame of mind to feature in the game.
“He’s been all right,” Lennon added. 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 chats 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.”