Schalke sporting director Rouven Schroeder has revealed how they had to beat off competition from Celtic to land Japanese star Ko Itakura on loan from Manchester City.
Record Sport exclusively revealed how he was on the transfer radar of Ange Postecoglou's Hoops.
But the 24-year-old opted to sign for the Bundesliga 2 club on loan from City with Schalke having a purchase option of £3.4 million to sign him permanently.
Celtic were strongly linked with a move for the Japan international so he could international colleague Kyogo Furuhashi in Glasgow.
And Schalke have revealed how hard they had to work to fend off strong interest from the Hoops.
Shroeder said: "It took a lot of patience to sign him from Manchester City.
"For example, Celtic had tracked him for a year and were desperate to sign him, but we managed to beat them to it.
"We had to wait and wait and the deal could not be completed until the Olympic football tournament had finished which probably helped us.
"But it was worth it in the end and has been a fantastic signing for us."
