Slovan Bratislava boss Vladimir Weiss has opened the door on Celtic resurrecting their move for David Strelec after insisting the striker is bound for bigger clubs than Middlesbrough.
The Hoops were seemingly priced out of the market for the Slovakian international and he looked set for a £9 million move to a club in a country where the transfer window was still open this month.
However, after Slovan's 3-1 Slovakian Cup win against Trencin - where Strelec didn't play because of the recent transfer speculation - boss Weiss revealed his star man is staying put until the summer.
And he admitted he's glad a last gasp transfer to English Championship promotion hopefuls Boro fell through.
Weiss said: "David's staying with us. He had the opportunity to go to Middlesbrough, but I think he has more potential. I believe he will be able to choose from even better clubs later.
"Middlesbrough made us a good offer. It was rushed. We gave them the go-ahead the night before, but it didn't happen,
"We gave him permission to open talks, but it stopped
"I'm not going to lie. He's not injured enough to be out of the game, but he was a little out of it in his head.
"He will have to come back with his head down and get on with it. He will definitely be here until the summer.
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"I believe that his goals will help us win the title. Then he will be able to leave if offers come in that the club is happy with.
"I'm glad he's staying here. I get that every player wants to go to a better league, for better conditions, for better money. That was his opinion too.
"There was interest in three or four players at the club, but the title is the priority for us."
