The Glasgow giants have offered Burnley £3.1 million for the 20-year-old from Fermanagh - a deal which includes Parkhead striker Derek O'Riordan going in the opposite direction.

Clearly though there is hard negotiating going on because word from Burnley this morning was that the Turf Moor club were hoping the Bhoys would come in with an even bigger fee.

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan has been a long time admirer of Lafferty, as has Rangers boss Walter Smith, who has also expressed an interest.

The Parkhead outfit though have stolen a march on their Old Firm rivals and would love to complete a move for Lafferty before the January transfer window closes on Thursday.

Lafferty is eligible to play in the Champions League and with a tie against Barcelona in the last 16 coming up, there is plenty of incentive for the Northern Ireland ace to move.

When Steve Cotterill was manager at Turf Moor, he put on a whopping £6 million price tag on Lafferty, turning down a £500,000 bid from Celtic last season.

Lafferty is a big Rangers fan but he would still love to pull on the Hoops jersey.

He has said: "Celtic are a huge club and I'm honoured to be the subject of a bid. I grew up supporting Rangers but that wouldn't stand in my way."

Lafferty, given his international debut by Lawrie Sanchez, has scored three times in his 13 appearances for Northern Ireland.

When Sanchez was in charge at Fulham, he tried to sign the striker for £2.5 million but was unsuccessful.

Incidentally Manchester City's out of favour striker Georgios Samaras could play a part in all this with the Old Firm clubs both chasing him.

Meanwhile Norwich City have had a £850,000 offer for Northern Ireland's Scunthorpe forward Martin Paterson turned down.

Paterson, who won his first cap in Spain last year, is highly rated in the Championship but unless the Canaries up the ante he will be staying put while Hull City winger Stuart Elliott has rejected a £100,000 move to League Two high-fliers Darlington.