Aston Villa in for Celtic target Aleksander Tonev

Celtic manager Neil Lennon has been monitoring Aleksander Tonev closely, but may lose out to former team-mate Paul Lambert for his signature. Pictures: SNS

• Aleksander Tonev move to Celtic could be scuppered by Aston Villa bid

• Bulgarian winger a £3.5m target for Villa manager Paul Lambert

Lech Poznan are listening to offers for the Bulgarian, who is also being monitored by Werder Bremen and Malaga.

Tonev is known to be keen to sample Champions League football - something he could achieve if he chose to sign for Celtic - but Aston Villa’s bid, thought to be an improvement on one allegedly offered by Celtic, has cast doubt on the certainty of the move.

Villa manager and former Celtic captain Paul Lambert will attempt to lure Tonev with the prospect of battling the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea in the Premiership, though Villa will not feature in Europe next season, having finished a lowly 15th.

It was reported that Celtic had offererd a bid of around £2 million for the 11-cap international.

Discussing Celtic’s bid for the Bulgarian, Poznan president Jacek Rutkowski said: “We got a very concrete offer for Tonev and negotiations are very advanced. But we will make a decision within a few weeks.”

Tonev was yesterday expected to make a decision on his future within 24 hours, but Villa’s bid could make that timescale less certain.