Report: Celtic snub player who’s ‘elegant, clever’ and ‘terrific to watch’, will now join English club

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Celtic boss Neil Lennon has reportedly turned down a move for Steven Fletcher, who will now prolong his stay in England, according to the Daily Record and the Stoke Sentinel.

Fletcher is a free agent after leaving English Championship side Sheffield Wednesday and was believed to be targeting a return north of the border following a successful decade in England.

The Scotland international made the breakthrough at Hibernian and went on to score 52 goals in 189 games for the capital club.

Fletcher then went south of the border and made a name for himself in England for the likes of Burnley, Sunderland, Wolves and the Owls.

Neil Lennon had discussed a move with the 33-year-old but, after signing Albian Ajeti in a £5million deal from West Ham, decided against a move for Fletcher, as reported by the Daily Record.

The Sentinel, meanwhile, believes that English Championship side Stoke have agreed terms with the forward and he could be unveiled in Staffordshire this afternoon.

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Fletcher has earned plenty of plaudits over his career, with former Scotland boss Gordon Strachan previously describing him as “terrific to watch” after his hat-trick against Gibraltar in 2015 and adding that he is “elegant” and “clever”.

That said, Celtic have spent a sizeable sum on a young striker eager to put his difficult West Ham spell and return to his prolific form of his Basel days.

Then, considering Odsonne Edouard, Leigh Griffiths and Patryk Klimala are all at Lennon’s disposal too, then how much game time would Fletcher realistically have got?