The Rumour Mill: Wednesday’s Scottish football transfer news and gossip

In today’s Rumour Mill: Lennon and Lawwell strike deal agreeing not to sell Hooper; SFL clubs set to veto 12-12-18 plans; Fenlon steps up winger search plus the rest of the day’s Scottish football news and transfer gossip.

Neil Lennon reveals pact with Peter Lawwell not to sell star striker

Celtic manager Neil Lennon and club chief executive Peter Lawwell have made an agreement not to sell Gary Hooper in the final hours of the transfer window.

Speculation about the striker’s future has been at the forefront of transfer gossip for much of the past two weeks, with Hooper linked to Norwich City and Tottenham Hotspur amongst others.

Lennon is reportedly confident of keeping the forward at Parkhead after the window slams shut on Thursday night, and revealed that Lawwell is on the same page as him with regards keeping hold of the striker - even if they receive a late flurry of big-money bids on Thursday evening.

Norwich are reportedly preparing an £8 million bid plus add-ons, whilst former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill, now at Sunderland, is also keeping an eye on the situation.

• Celtic had a bid knocked back for the ‘Ghana Messi’ Frank Acheampong, according to the player’s club Buriram United. The Thailand-based player was on trial at Parkhead but has now joined Belgian side Anderlecht on loan, after a reported £600,000 bid from Celtic was turned down.

• The Parkhead club are also weighing up a move for Swedish keeper Viktor Noring. The 21-year-old, currently attached to Trelleborgs, trained at Lennoxtown yesterday and could be brought in to challenge first team ‘keepers Fraser Forster and Lukasz Zaluska. On-loan stopper Lubos Kamenar had his loan terminated earlier this month.

SFL clubs hint at 12-12-10-10 structure

The Scottish Football League could knock back the 12-12-18 plans agreed by all 12 SPL clubs yesterday in favour of a 12-12-10-10 structure.

The SFL board were asked to adopt an 18-team lower division or bring in more teams to create two 10-team leagues, and despite initially agreeing to the latter, they could now throw a spanner in the works by bringing up an alternative structure after Rangers complained about the prospect of them winning the SFL3 title but remaining in the bottom tier.

Pat Fenlon still has business to do as transfer window nears end

Hibernian manager Pat Fenlon has admitted that he is still looking to add to his squad at Easter Road after securing loan extensions for Leigh Griffiths and Ryan McGivern, bringing in Blackpool midfielder Scott Robertson and seeking to extend Jorge Claros loan stay - but his primary concern is a winger.

Fenlon let Ivan Sproule depart for Ross County - who take on Hibs tonight in Dingwall - and is keen to add a wide player to his squad. Pedro Santos and Gregg Wylde have both been mentioned, but the Irishman has denied any interest in the former whilst Bolton winger Wylde has just returned from a loan deal at Bury.

Fenlon brought in a raft of loan signings on transfer deadline day last January, and may well be looking ahead to another busy 24 hours.

Scottish football news in brief

• Falkirk chiefs have expressed their relief that Steven Pressley is staying at the club. The former Hearts captain had been mooted as a possible replacement for the departed Dundee United manager Peter Houston.

• Derek McInnes, who was also mentioned in conjunction with the Tannadice post, has revealed that he is unable to look for a new job - because he is still thrashing out a payoff with Bristol City.

• Hamilton midfielder Gary Fraser has stunned Bolton by rejecting a move to the Reebok Stadium. Fraser was on trial with the Championship side, but turned down a two-and-a-half year deal to stay with Accies.

• Lee McCulloch is winning his race to be fit for Rangers’ cup tie with Dundee United this weekend. The veteran striker has been out for the past month with an ankle injury.

• Scot Gemmill has been appointed Assistant National Youth Coach, working across all age groups and assisting Billy Stark in Greece next week.

• Crystal Palace are preparing to raid Dundee United for highly-rated duo Johnny Russell and Gary Mackay-Steven. The sale of Wilfried Zaha to Manchester United has handed Ian Holloway a large sum to spend on new recruits.

• New Inverness loan signing Jordan Gibbons has revealed that Scotland striker Jamie Mackie convinced him to swap London for the Highlands.