HIBS have thrown out a third bid for John McGinn believed to be for £2million. Previous bids of £1.5m and £1.75m were previously rejected by the Easter Road side who are holding out for a up to double the THIRD bid – despite McGinn entering the final year of his contract.
No other clubs have entered the bidding for McGinn and with the English transfer window closing early this season, the Hibs hand will weaken considerably at that stage.
They also know that McGinn wants to join Celtic in this window but would be prepared to accept that he may have to wait until January to sign a pre-contract deal with the Scottish Champions. At that stage McGinn’s transfer value would be well under £500k.
Or Celtic could just wait until May next year and get him for free – thus denying both Hibs and St.Mirren (who are due a cut of any transfer fee having sold McGinn to Hibs) important revenue.
Another aspect of this saga that remains a surprise is that Hibs have not asked for Scott Allan to be included in any deal. Allan was a success at Easter Road in his loan spell there in the second half of the season and Neil Lennon and Brendan Rodgers had both suggested that a return was on the cards.
Ryan Christie or Mikey Johnston have also been mentioned as players that Lennon would like to loan from Celtic but again they have not been part of any bid negotiations until this point.
Celtic who face Rosenborg in the Champions League Qualifier second round first leg on Wednesday, are also a little more focused on defensive acquisitions at the moment.
Dedryck Boyata’s contract renewal is looking increasingly unlikely and Jozo Simunovic could also be allowed to leave should Celtic receive an appropriate bid.
Marvin Compper remains unproven and a source of frustration for the support and probably more importantly the manager.
Two quality central defenders could be incoming – perhaps one coming from last year’s Champions League opponents Anderlecht.
All of this could play out in the next two weeks and could result in the McGinn deal being put on hold until the English window closes.
