CELTIC have been knocked in a £6.9million bid for 25-goal Romanian striker Louis Munteanu.
The champions fell well short of Cluj’s staggering asking price of £15million for the 23-year-old frontman, according to local media outlet iAM SPORT.
Munteanu was the country’s top scorer last season and he is already off the mark in the new term with a goal in his side’s 3-0 win over Hungary’s Paksi in the Europa League first round qualifier last night.
The prolific hitman cost Cluj £2.5million a year ago from Fiorentina where the player spent four seasons after being snapped up from the youth ranks of Romanian outfit Viitorul Constanta.
ON THE BALL…Cluj’s highly-rated striker Louis Munteanu.
Club owner Nelutu Varga is demanding more than double the cash offered by the Hoops as he looks for a massive profit on Munteanu.
French Ligue 1 sides Lille and Nice have already been credited with an interest in the forward who scored six goals in his 20 Under-21 appearances for his country.
Shin Yamada is on his way to Parkhead in a £1.3million switch from J-League Kawasaki Frontale, but Brendan Rodgers is still looking to beef up his attack that saw 21-goal Nicolas Kuhn join Como in a £17.2million deal last week.
It’s back to the drawing board as far as Munteanu is concerned, but it is unlikely Celtic will pay an exorbitant fee for the player.
