Louis Munteanu breaks Celtic cover over aborted transfer as £20m price drop triggers a rethink about rebellion
The Romania international refused to play for Cluj after the club stood by their mega price tag
CFR Cluj striker Louis Munteanu insists he is now focussing on his football after a summer bid from Celtic was booted out.
Sources in Romania credited Brendan Rodgers' side with an interest in the 23-year-old during the window and even went as far as to report that they saw a bid worth £6.9million turfed out by Cluj.
Munteanu - who banged in 25 goals last season - was also heavily linked with Valencia in La Liga and Rennes in Ligue 1 with an initial £20million price tag placed on the attacker.
Following the end of the window, owner Ioan Varga claimed that the striker was on the brink of a blockbuster £17.5million move to Ajax - with the Dutch giants eventually opting to sign Kasper Dolberg and scuppering the Hoops' late transfer window plans.
After the late drama of transfer season, the Romania international would pull out of the first-team plans as he rebelled against the club for only welcoming mega money offers.
Boss Andrea Mandorlini admitted he hoped to convince his star man to see out the campaign with Cluj after murmurs rippled through Romanian football that £4.3million would now be enough to sign the player amid the public fallout.
Munteanu would finally cool his row with the club to return to action in the September draw with Uni Cluj after almost a month out of action - and netted his first goal since July against Hermannstadt before the international break.
International boss Mircea Lucescu would keep faith in the forward and gave him game time during the double header against Moldova and Austria.
And speaking while on duty with his country, Munteanu opened up on the summer saga.
He told AS: "As I said in the last match against Hermannstadt, I got back on my feet, I feel better and better and it's clear on the field that I look good.
"It hasn't been an easy summer, I'm trying to focus on CFR and the national team, I'm trying to find my rhythm."
Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the-minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond.
You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Celtic pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season.
We're also on WhatsApp, where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to your phone. Join our Celtic community here.
Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport's newest podcast, Game On, every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.