Scottish champions Glasgow Celtic failed in a January bid to loan Cardiff City winger Josh Murphy with a view to buy him in the summer, according to BBC Sport.
The Bluebirds attacker has been on the fringes of things down in Wales this season, and that has not gone unnoticed by the Bhoys boss Neil Lennon, who made an audacious move to take him to Glasgow in January, only to see the offer rejected, the report suggests.
Cardiff are in the middle of something of a transition under Neil Harris, and as a result Murphy has only started two of the 14 matches under the former Millwall manager since he took over from Neil Warnock earlier in the campaign.
The 24-year-old was involved for the Welsh outfit in their FA Cup replay defeat to Reading on Tuesday night, after which it was revealed that an offer from Celtic for his services had been rejected.
The Bhoys were seemingly looking for extra attacking mite with Mohamed Elyounoussi having missed the last couple of months with injury, and with the future of the Norway international beyond the end of the season up for debate.
Having noticed that Cardiff were not playing Murphy as much as expected, an inquiry was made by Celtic about taking the attacker to Parkhead, but it did not appear to get too much further.
After their FA Cup exit, Bluebirds boss Harris seemed to rule out any future hopes of a deal for the Bhoys when he confirmed that the winger still had a role to play at the Cardiff City Stadium.
The failure to sign Murphy does not appear to be holding Celtic back though, as they picked up an emphatic 4-0 win at Motherwell in midweek, to sit seven points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership table as they look to retain their title once again.
The Glasgow giants are back in action this weekend as they travel to take on Glasgow neighbours Clyde in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup.
