Celtic tried to sign Eran Zahavi during Neil Lennon's tenure, the Northern Irishman has told sport5

The lowdown

Zahavi currently plays for Eredivisie side PSV Eindhoven, having joined on a free transfer from Chinese Super League outfit Guangzhou City in September 2020.

The striker, now 34, boasts an impressive record for the club with 24 goals and nine assists in his first 50 appearances.

He's looking to fire PSV to the title and also help them progress through the Europa League.

Zahavi is Israel's all-time top goalscorer with 31, seven clear of retired midfielder Yossi Benayoun.

The latest

Lennon, who left Celtic at the end of February, was asked whether he tried to sign Israeli players in addition to Nir Bitton and revealed that he 'really liked' Zahavi.

He hailed him as an 'icon' who 'influences the other members of the team'.

Unfortunately, the club 'never managed to reach an agreement' with his camp, and so the deal didn't materialise.

The verdict

Celtic missed out on a prolific goalscorer. In addition to his 24 goals for PSV, Zahavi bagged 103 in just 117 appearances for Guangzhou City and while the standard of the Chinese Super League may not be the highest, that return is certainly not to be sniffed at.

He probably would have taken to the Scottish top flight, but it seems his demands were simply too great for the Hoops to meet.

In other news, read Alex McLeish's verdict on this Celtic signing