CELTIC look set to become embroiled in a battle to avoid missing out on compensation for Thomas Rogne.

Wigan have given the Norwegian international defender a medical and are expected to offer a contract to the man whose deal at Parkhead has just ended.

Having brought him from Stabaek in Norway as a teenager in January 2010, and having offered him a new contract to remain at Parkhead earlier this term, the SPL champions should be entitled to development compensation from any club from another association which subsequently employs Rogne.

However, under Fifa rules, this only applies until the end of a season in which the player reaches the age of 23 – and Rogne hits that special birthday tomorrow.

The rulebook states: Training compensation is due when a professional is transferred between clubs of two different associations (whether during or at the end of his contract) before the end of the season of his 23rd birthday.

That means Celtic are in danger of missing out on any compensation for the three-and-a-half years during which they have aided Rogne's development.

Under the complicated calculating system operated by the world game's rulers, that could have amounted to six figures.

The Hoops are expected to seek clarification from Fifa regarding precisely when they decree that the season has ended as it varies around the globe.

Celtic had to pay Stabaek – Rogne's first senior club – around £200,000 training compensation when Tony Mowbray signed him as a 19-year-old free agent.

But the Parkhead club have also benefited from the Fifa compensation ruling in the past.

When Joe Ledley was signed on a Bosman at the end of his contract with Cardiff City in July 2010, no payment was due to the club where he had trained since his school days because he had turned 23 in January that year.

Celtic shrewdly waited until Cardiff's season was over before they signed Ledley, and, when the Welsh outfit tried to pursue a compensation claim against them through Fifa, they were unsuccessful.

Celtic could now find themselves as the pursuers, but the odds appear to be stacked against them.

Rogne's time at Parkhead was blighted by injury, but Neil Lennon still considered him worthy of a deal.

However, negotiations broke down when the player rejected the initial offer.

Celtic then had difficulty getting the player's agent back round the table for further talks, and Rogne allowed his contract to run down.