The Hoops were adamant last night interest from the London club had not been firmed up into an offer which would have shattered the Scottish transfer record. But make no mistake, the interest from Chelsea was real and it was direct.

The Arsenal legend said: “It’s a massive mistake from the teams in the Premier League. He was playing for Fulham.
“That’s the price – £40million – you’re going to have to pay now and you know, we can all talk about is he worth it or not, you have to pay.
“We knew what he could do at Fulham. I was very shocked no-one in the Premier League came in for him.

“He’s a great guy, he can score goals, he’s doing well for the France Under-21s and there is talk about him going to the national team.
“You know what you are going to get and he knows the English game. He’s never played in the Premier League, but if you can play and score goals in the Championship and in Scotland then you know about the physicality of the game here.
“Antonio Conte is thinking about the future, maybe thinking if he has a problem with Diego Costa at the end of the season. It’s about building at Chelsea and he’s a young lad.”
Rodgers had categorically stated on Monday that the Scotland international would play in goal against the Dons tonight and deadline day passed without that being put to the test.
The 34-year-old’s representatives will now meet with Celtic officials to thrash out a new improved deal.
Erik Sviatchenko and Nir Bitton were also the subject of inquiries from English clubs yesterday, but Celtic informed them they were not for sale.
Now, with all the transfer speculation out of the way, Celtic can now concentrate on a domestic treble.