Soccer: Neil Lennon admits his efforts to bring Craig Bellamy back to Celtic have come to a standstill.

The Bhoys have been tracking their former loan star for much of the summer, with it clear that he has no future at Manchester City.

The Wales international has revealed that he would favour a permanent switch during the current transfer window, seriously denting the hopes of those who were looking for a loan deal.

Celtic, though, believe they can put a package together that will appeal to Bellamy and convince him that his future lies in Glasgow.

They are, however, making slow progress and the deadline for players to be registered for the Europa League arrives on Monday.

Lennon has not given up hope of getting a deal done by then, but he has conceded that talks have stalled.

He said: "I hope to have someone in before the deadline but I can't say yes or no. I am working very hard in the background to get players in.

"It's all gone quiet (on Bellamy). You would be interested in a player of Craig's quality but we have nothing more to add to that at the minute.

"I haven't spoken to him for a fortnight now but we will do that through his representatives."

Meanwhile, Lennon has confirmed that contract talks with club captain Scott Brown are progressing positively.

He added: "We want him here and he wants to stay. I think we are pretty close and pretty soon we will hopefully have a result on that."