Romanian journalist Emanuel Rosu has provided an update after Rangers star Ianis Hagi’s father, Gheorghe, was touted as a potential replacement for Neil Lennon as Celtic manager [Emanuel Rosu Twitter].
Romanian outlet PlaySport claimed on Sunday that the Hoops board would be ‘interested’ in speaking to Hagi Snr should Lennon be sacked.
The current boss is under pressure following an abject first half of the season from Celtic, who were knocked out of the Champions League at the qualifying stages and are now 19 points behind league-leaders Rangers after an Old Firm defeat at Ibrox on Saturday.
However, Rosu, a journalist who regularly reported on the transfer that took Ianis to the Gers from Genk, says Gheorghe has rubbished the link.
“Breaking: The fun is over,” he tweeted. “Hagi told us nothing’s true about this story.”
Gheorghe is widely considered to be the best player ever to come out of Romania, having played for Barcelona, Real Madrid and Galatasaray, amongst others, while he’s managed Gala, Steaua Bucharest and the club he owns, FC Viitorul Constanta, in the recent past.
However, given how highly he has spoken of Rangers since his son joined the club, it was always extremely unlikely that he would take over at Celtic.
There’s also no suggestion that change is actually imminent at Parkhead, given that the Celtic board have consistently backed Lennon despite the shortcomings in both European and domestic football this season.
The Celtic squad jetted off to Dubai following their weekend Old Firm defeat with many Rangers fans finding meltdown-prompting photos from the trip extremely amusing.
