Kyogo Furuhashi's agent and translator have revealed the offers the striker had on the table before he secured his switch to Celtic.
The Japanese international moved to Glasgow as Ange Postecoglou's first signing in 2021 and since then he has scored a barrel-load in the Scottish Premiership.
Kyogo won the golden boot award after scoring 27 goals for Celtic over the course of the Premiership season and he also picked up the player of the year gong.
Agent and interpreter Ido has now revealed that Celtic were lucky to land their star man, as there was plenty of interest from elsewhere.
He told the Daily Mail: "I had been trying to get a deal for Kyogo in Spain, Belgium and other countries. There was an offer from Spain, an offer from Belgium. There was another one from the Netherlands.
"We had around four transfer windows before he moved to Celtic. And each time we brought an offer, the club did not want to let him go. He was becoming a very important player to Vissel Kobe and they didn't want to lose their best striker.
"Eventually we got the offer from Celtic and the transfer fee was good. But also it was a dream for a player from Vissel Kobe to go to a great club such as Celtic. The offers we had before were from good clubs. But none of them had the history and reputation of Celtic."
Meanwhile, Leeds have appointed former Celtic head of football operations Nick Hammond as “interim football advisor on a short-term contract”.
Hammond, 55, will help Leeds with their summer recruitment plans as they continue their search for a permanent director of football.
The club said: “Leeds United are pleased to confirm the appointment of Nick Hammond as the club’s interim football advisor on a short-term contract.
“Hammond will help support the club during the summer transfer window.
“The experienced 55-year-old, former director of football at Reading and head of football operations at Celtic, worked in a similar consultancy role at Newcastle United.
“The process for finding a new, permanent, director of football at Leeds United is under way and the club aim to complete this process by October, allowing the successful candidate to focus on the January transfer window.”
