Neil Lennon eager to watch Mustafa Amini

NEIL Lennon has confirmed that promising teenage Australian midfielder Mustafa Amini could be a Celtic player in time for the start of the new SPL season.

Celtic kick off their three-game pre-season tour of Australia on Saturday morning against A-League side Central Coast Mariners at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, when Lennon will come face to face with the Afro-haired player he admits the club have been tracking for some months.

"He's a player that's been flagged up to us," Lennon said. "It will be good to get a good look at him on Saturday hopefully. The reports we've had about him have been very good.

"Australia has been kind to Celtic in the past few years with the likes of Mark Viduka and Scott McDonald making an enormous contribution to the club, which is one of the reasons why we've come down here, so we can have a look at the players down here and, hopefully, unearth a few nuggets."

The Mariners coach, Graham Arnold, is resigned to losing his prize asset, who was recently the target of a 100,000 offer from Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund.

"It's no secret he is a very good talent and he's not going to get a better opportunity to get right in front of the Celtic boss like he will on Saturday so it's a great occasion for the kid," he said.

Lennon also said he will reject any approaches for captain Scott Brown as he bids to tie the midfielder to a new contract.

"We opened preliminary talks with Scott at the end of last season," said the Celtic manager.

"He's on record as saying he wants to stay at Celtic and that is something I'm very pleased about.

"I'm hoping to get him tied down. I'd be unwilling to sell him and I'd rebuff any offers."