Fabricio Bruno has revealed that interest from Celtic did spark his legal battle with Cruzeiro.

The Scottish champions were interested in signing the Brazilian in the January window, but when Cruzeiro refused to negotiate, he took his team to court over four months of unpaid wages. Unfortunately, the court’s ruling was scheduled seven days after the transfer deadline:

“I tried to tell to them to negotiate with Celtic, but they would not. I had no choice, but to take Cruzeiro to court.”

“Celtic came back for me, but they had to pull out because I wouldn’t get a decision from the court until February 6 and that was too late for them. It was very unfortunate for them.”

Bruno eventually moved to his current team Red Bull Bragantino just a week after winning his case in court.

While the Hoops did miss out on the 24-year-old, it does seem likely that they’ll be in for another centre-half at the end of the season.

Manager Neil Lennon has utilised a three-man backline regularly in recent months, and in the absence of the injured Jozo Simunovic and Hatem Abd Elhamed, midfielder Nir Bitton has been used regularly in defence.

With Kristoffer Ajer’s future also up in the air, another centre-back would certainly come in useful.