BHOYS ‘DON’T NEED WINDFALL TO MAKE SIGNINGS’

player might say the Champions League is a big carrot to come here. So it’s important to get Champions League football for so many different reasons and that’s another one to add.’ Wary of repeating the events of last year when Turnbull failed a medical after a £3m deal was agreed between the clubs, Lennon said there was ‘nothing’ to report on the issue, restricting himself to a terse: ‘He is a good player’.

Admitting that the extension of the transfer window to October was ‘torture’, the Parkhead boss dismissed reports from Turkey of an alleged £7m bid for Trabzonspor striker Caleb Ekuban. ‘I’m getting all this speculation and chat and rumours, and this is the age we live in,’ said Lennon. ‘But I can tell you hand on heart that it’s the first time I’ve heard of this player. ‘I’m not aware of any bids or contact with the player or the club or representatives. ‘I have to concentrate on the job at hand. We have our eye on a couple of potential signings, but we are nowhere near fulfilling any of those at the minute. ‘I can’t really add anything more to that. ‘I would hope that we are not going to lose any more players. ‘I am happy with the squad but I would like to make a couple of more additions, as I’ve said over the past few weeks. ‘A lot of these things can be protracted and we may look at (them) later on in the window when we might be able to get better value for money for players as well.’ Lennon admitted, meanwhile, that Celtic will consider pulling international players out of qualifiers if they face a twoweek quarantine on their return under Covid-19 guidelines. Odsonne Edouard has been picked for the France Under-21s team for Euro qualifiers in Georgia and Azerbaijan — neither of which feature on the list of nations granted coronavirus travel exemptions by the UK or Scottish Governments. While rules are relaxed for elite athletes occupying a bio-secure bubble, some players would be required to travel on scheduled flights used by the general public. ‘I only became aware of it on Monday night, so I’ll talk to our Covid officer after the game against Ferencvaros and take a view on whether the players will get special dispensation or whether they would have to be quarantined,’ said Lennon.