Napoli defender Amir Rrahmani has claimed that Celtic submitted a second bid before he decided to stay in Italy.

Rrahmani snubs Paradise

The 26-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to Parkhead for the past 18 months, dating back to the summer of 2019 before he moved to the Serie A side for £12.6m from Hellas Verona, but was loaned back to Gli Scaligeri for the 2019/20 campaign (via TransferMarkt).

Rrahmani made 35 appearances in his debut season in Italy and is yet to make a first-team outing for his new club. But the Hoops ultimately missed out, not just on one occasion.

Cited by the Daily Record, Rrahmani revealed that Lennon was interested in his services, but explained why he decided to stay in Naples as opposed to joining up with Celtic and the Irish tactician.

"Napoli have invested a lot in me," he said. "I had offers from Celtic and Standard Liege but in the end, I chose to sign for Napoli. This is the most important step of my career.

"They had a strategy to sell (Kalidou) Koulibaly but the coronavirus changed the scenario. I've been told that I'm still an important member of the squad and that my time will come soon."

Transfer Tavern take

Rrahmani would have definitely bolstered Lennon's defensive assets, and certainly looks the part. Winning two league titles in Croatia and gaining experience in the Europa League shows why Celtic were interested in him.

In the end, Shane Duffy made the move on loan from Brighton and had started well before some recent bad form, scoring twice from his first seven league games (Whoscored).

If the Irishman can perform at a consistent level for the Bhoys, Rrahmani will not be missed by the Parkhead faithful.

In other news, pundit warns 'disinterested' Celtic star who could be doing a Ntcham.