Hibs have a major problem on their hands after rejecting a £1.5m offer from Celtic for John McGinn.
In January the midfielder can sign a pre-season contract with anyone that he likes leaving Hibs high and dry.
Brendan Rodgers as been a long term admirer of McGinn but isn’t under desperate pressure to add a central midfielder to his squad.
McGinn is level headed enough to understand the game that he is involved in and won’t down tools or demand a transfer.
The problem is very much one for Rod Petrie.
For over a decade, since the sale of Steven Fletcher to Burnley, the Hibs chief executive has had a reputation for driving a hard bargain in Hibs’ favour.
This time around he’ll find things tougher.
Hibs have just lost Dylan McGeouch to Sunderland for nothing, Neil Lennon’s squad is short on numbers while Scott Allan has shown that he is the type of player that can thrive at Hibs under the Irishman.
With St Mirren due a healthy cut of any transfer fee Hibs won’t rake in a fortune for McGinn, English interest is limited with the player more likely to wait for Celtic than follow Jason Cummings to the Championship.
The best that Hibs can hope for is to get a decent sell-on clause added to a new Celtic bid of less than £2m.
Celtic can sit back and look at other targets, the clock is ticking down at Easter Road with time running out on Petrie.
