Gheorghe Hagi admits he's full of admiration for Neil Lennon's career and the father of Rangers star Ianis Hagi praised his previous work at 'strong' Celtic.
The former Hoops boss has been appointed manager of Rapid Bucharest and has a huge task on his hands after the fallen giants finished sixth this season.
Lennon will come up against former Real Madrid and Barcelona icon Hagi next season because the Romanian legend is both owner and manager of Farul Constanta, who won the league last year but could only finish in fourth place this term.
And Hagi - whose son Ianis will return to Rangers this summer after an unsuccessful loan spell at Alaves - admits he is an admirer of Lennon's previous work.
He said: "Neil Lennon is a coach who has delivered in his career. He managed Celtic and won a lot of titles in Scotland.
"He is a great manager and comes from Celtic - a strong club with a rich football culture.
"He knows all about pressure because there is plenty of pressure to win in Scotland and, of course, he will have big expectations to succeed at Rapid Bucharest too.
"We know how big a club Celtic are because they played Romanian teams in European competition. He is an extremely experienced coach."
Meanwhile, Celtic have been thrown an encouraging lifeline in their potential pursuit of Koen Casteels.
The goalkeeper is set to leave German side Wolfsburg and is expected to be a man in demand after he represents Belgium at this summer's Euros.
Celtic are in the mix, amongst other clubs, to sign the keeper on a free this summer upon his departure from the Bundesliga club.
Brendan Rodgers is looking to secure a long-term replacement for Joe Hart, who will retire after the final game of his career against Rangers in the Scottish Cup final 2024 this Saturday.
