Former Celtic striker John Hartson believes that the Parkhead side are in no position at the minute to allow Scott Brown to sign a pre-contract agreement.

The Celtic captain is expected to speak to Western Melbourne before heading to Dubai on Saturday with the rest of his Parkhead team-mates for warm weather training before the latter part of the season.

A League new boys Western Melbourne have made no secret of the fact that they wish to make Brown their marquee signing for the season that lies ahead. The suggestion has been that Brown would be offered a three-year deal to sign with the club who have just secured their A-League license, an offer that may well be enticing as he comes to the final months of his current Celtic contract.

It is understood that Celtic have offered a short term deal to Brown but will give him time and space as he weighs up what the final decision of his playing career is.

“I’ve heard people say he could head off to Australia now, that his time has come, that his influence is on the wane at Celtic,” said Hartson. “But I just don’t buy it.

“I think you need players at the club like Brown who are leaders and who know what it is all about.

“Celtic remain on top of the league, they have a Europa league game against Valencia to look forward to and you have to remember that they are still going for a treble Treble. This is not the time where you want to be losing players but rather making sure that you come back out of the window stronger than when you went into it.”

Celtic remain in the hunt for new additions in January with an offer already tabled for Dunajska Streda striker Vakoun Issouf Bayo while Timothy Weah is expected to formalise a six-month loan deal to Celtic this week.

Bayo has been described as his national manager, Ibrahim Kamara, as a “killer striker”.

He said: "We have been following Vakoun closely in Slovakia and he fully deserves to be part of our squad.

"He was first called into the squad three years ago when he was playing in Tunisia and has also been a part of the Under 23s team.

"He's quick, direct, has an eye for goal and has the physique to be a top player. He's very powerful when he gets into his stride.

"I call him a killer in front of goal.

"Perhaps people here won't know him so well because he's been playing in other leagues and not many people know about the Slovakian league. But he has a very good record there and has got huge potential.

"He is also an aerial threat and if he keeps progressing can become a very good player for us."

Meanwhile, Emilio Izaguirre is reported to be attracting the attention of Turkish side Goztepe.

The left-back made a surprise return to Celtic this summer in order to deputise for Kieran Tierney. The 32-year-old signed is signed at the club until the end of the season but Goztepe have been reported in the Turkish press to be willing to offer the Honduran a deal until 2020.

Elsewhere, Celtic’s head of recruitment Lee Congerton has been linked with a switch to Anderlecht while forgotten Celt Scott Allan is wanted by Hibs for a return to Easter Road.