Cluj have been forced to deny that Dan Petrescu left the club with a view to taking over at Celtic.
The former Chelsea man left the Romanian side by mutual consent this week following a shock cup defeat to Poli Iasi.
Celtic of course suffered their own cup upset at the hands of Ross County, piling the pressure on Neil Lennon.
And Cluj director, Marius Bilasco, has moved to deny Petrescu - who guided Cluj to two wins out of four against Celtic last season including a Champions League qualifying round success - left because Parkhead chiefs had lined him up.
He said: "I have no way of knowing if Celtic's interest in Dan Petrescu is true.
"We asked him about it, but he explained he had decided to leave anyway.
"If you have a manager who wins you three titles in a row and who gets you into Europe, why would we want him to leave?
"Dan Petrescu has always attracted interest from many clubs. He had the support of the board and this was his decision."
Petrescu is favourite to take charge of Riyadh moneybags Al Nassr, who have just sacked their Portuguese boss Rui Vitoria.
