Neil Lennon makes Charlie Mulgrew his first signing with others on the way

WHILE Neil Lennon would be the first to admit he remains unproven as a top-level manager, his ability to sell Celtic to prospective signings is surely unmatched. Indeed, it is one of his principal assets.

The former midfielder is a Celtic enthusiast, of that there is no doubt. This quality will stand him in good stead as he continues with his efforts to convince both Sol Campbell and Jimmy Bullard that Celtic Park is the place to continue their careers. The former has already been to visit Lennon at Celtic Park and enjoyed a tour of both the stadium and the club's training facility at Lennoxtown.

Although Campbell was not present yesterday as the Celtic first-team squad returned to work, Lennon is encouraged by what he has heard from the former English internationalist. He rates the out-of-contract Arsenal centre-back so highly that he is prepared to be accommodating in regard to the player's up-coming wedding arrangements. Campbell is due to be married on 17 July to fiance Fiona Barratt. Despite being currently in limbo following the end of his short-term contract with Arsenal the player still plans to go away on honeymoon. Lennon is being sympathetic in a bid to make Celtic seem yet more appealing to Campbell, who also hopes to be handed the option to remain with Arsenal.

"The talks were very positive," said Lennon. "It's a good sell, but a hard sell and he's gone away to think about it. He has other suitors obviously but we've made a really strong pitch.

"It's a harder sell now than before," he admitted, in reference to the gulf between the Old Firm's spending power and that of an English Premier League club. "But what we have to our advantage is the name, the stadium, the support, the history, the chance to win something and to play in Europe."

It was easy to get the impression that Lennon could have gone on. He spoke of the "magnetism" of the Old Firm clubs, something which helped convince his assistant coaches, Johan Mjallby and Alan Thompson, to join up with him again. It explains why Lennon himself was happy to return as a mere youth coach. But now his responsibilities are far greater, and he is pulling out all the stops in order to capture both Campbell and Bullard.

"I had a bit of dialogue with him (Campbell] on Wednesday and we'll probably be speaking to his agent (Sky Andrews] more now," he said. "We could have vetoed his plans for his wedding and honeymoon, but that would have put a more negative slant on things. In his own mind he's having his wedding and honeymoon and that's it. We might have to talk about that when the time comes. For now we just want to get the player on board.

As for Bullard, Lennon is equally optimistic. The midfielder dropped down to the Championship with Hull City at the end of last season. His club are eager to re-think the arrangement where they are left with a high-earner on the books in the lower division, while Bullard himself is keen to avoid performing in the less high-profile environment. The burning question remain whether he considers an on-loan move to Celtic as being preferable. Again, if anyone can persuade him that it is, then it is Lennon.

"We have had dialogue with Hull," confirmed Lennon. "And I've spoken to Jimmy. We're keen on signing him so we hope in the next few weeks to get him up here to have a look around the place. We're getting positive vibes, but again we are not getting carried away. He hasn't said he's not interested."

With the return of Charlie Mulgrew, Lennon has at least completed one signing while the South Korean defender Cha Du-Ri is set to join up after a medical last night. According to Lennon, Mulgrew was the "stand-out player" in Scotland last season, outwith the Old Firm. The former Aberdeen left-back has impressed with his attitude after being allowed to leave Celtic in 2006. "He didn't go away from here feeling sorry for himself," said Lennon. "He had to show determination to come back."

Cha Du-Ri, meanwhile, could fill the vacancy on the other side of the Celtic defence. He arrived at Celtic yesterday, fresh from his involvement at the World Cup with South Korea. "He's a modern full-back, who likes to get forward and his physicality is good, too," explained Lennon.

It has all amounted to a busy period for Lennon, even before the start of pre-season training yesterday. There are other issues he has still to attend to, he admitted. Stephen McManus was included in the roll-call at Lennoxtown yesterday, but his future remains in doubt. The central defender and former club skipper spent half of last season on loan at Middlesbrough, and appears keen to return.

"I need to sit down with Stephen and see what his thoughts are," said Lennon, who has still to make up his mind whether to let Scott Brown continue as skipper. "By all accounts he enjoyed his time down there, but he's our player at the minute."

Lennon seems so self-assured that it is easy to understand his apparent indifference to the idea of a part-time consultant manager being appointed above him. Although he said yesterday he was "not averse" to the recruitment of a more senior figure, it still remains some way from being confirmed. Stuart Baxter remains in the frame, although Lennon stressed that he will remain his own man. "He's not going to be looking over my shoulder every day, it's just a resource I can tap into now and again," he pointed out.