McGinn is set to play his part as Hibs turn down latest Bhoys bid

AHEAD of his side’s clash with NSI Runavik, Hibernian boss Neil Lennon confirmed the club had rejected Celtic’s latest offer for midfielder John McGinn.

Brendan Rodgers has earmarked the 23-year-old — who is in the final year of his contract at Easter Road — as one of his key summer targets after losing another Scotland midfielder, Stuart Armstrong, to Southampton earlier this month.

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 Faroese opposition, but Lennon — who moved from Leicester to Celtic after a protracted transfer saga — is sure McGinn will be in the right frame of mind to play after confirming he would be in his squad.

“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,” he added.

“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.”