CF Montreal president Gabriel Gervais has insisted he is not in Qatar to conduct any transfer negotiations amid Celtic 's links with Alistair Johnston.
The right-back started Canada's first World Cup appearance since 1986 and put in a battling performance against Belgium despite the narrow 1-0 loss, and following the full-time whistle in the Middle East speculation began to emerge over a potential move to the Scottish Premiership with doubts lingering over Josip Juranovic's futures. Ahead of the tournament Ange Postecoglou admitted that the Celtic scouts would be keeping a close eye on the tournament stating there were a "couple" of players the club would be monitoring.
It appears that Johnston is among those being tracked by the Scottish champions, and speculation in Canada has ramped that Gervais and sporting director Olivier Renard are in the negotiations with clubs and scouts while in the country. However, Gervais has played down concerns - insisting the duo are only in the country to take in the tournament.
Speaking to Journal De Montreal, the club supremo said: "We wanted to come and encourage our six players who are here and support Canada. I saw the six players, they worked so hard all year to be able to get into the team, credit goes to them.
"I have a different pride because for each player here. There are almost six different projects.
“Sam (Piette) was already on the national team, Alistair Johnston continued to grow to be a vital player, Kamal Miller wasn't playing much in Orlando [in MLS] and he became a national team starter. Ismaël Koné comes from the streets of Montreal, there is still a year from here.”
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