Cruzeiro have confirmed they have rejected a £3m offer from Celtic for centre-back Fabricio Bruno. An official from the Brazilian club, Marcio Rodrigues, said the bid is not anywhere near their valuation of the player:

“This proposal came, yes, but it is not consistent with what we want. There was a little enquiry and they made a proposal, but it doesn’t come close to what we want.”

Head of Football Operations Nick Hammond is said to have received an array of positive reports on the 23-year-old, and it is believed they will not be giving up on their pursuit quite yet.

The Hoops could look to table a loan deal with an option to buy at the end of the season, but it remains to be seen whether such an offer would satisfy Cruzeiro.

Bruno was not always a first-team regular for his club last campaign, having been an unused substitute in the first ten games of the Brazilian Championship.

However, the defender did break into the team back in July and he went on to play in 22 matches in all competitions.