Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has said that an agent approached him saying Joey Barton wanted to sign for the Scottish champions but that there was no interest from his side.

In an interview to promote his new autobiography, Rangers midfielder Barton has claimed that Celtic wanted to sign him after the Ibrox club's interest became public. The player said he was approached by an agent acting on Lawwell's behalf but had already given Rangers a commitment to sign.

However, the Celtic chief has issued a statement denying interest, saying instead that an agent had approached him and told him that Barton was keen to move to Rangers' city rivals instead of penning a deal at Ibrox.

"I think Joey's been had by a bit of a matchmaker here," Lawwell said.

"I remember it well, we had just announced Brendan as our new manager and I was with our company secretary in London at the time.

"An agent called me saying that Joey was going to sign for Rangers but he would really prefer to come to Celtic and were we interested in signing him, but it wasn't something we wanted to pursue.

"These things happen to players sometimes in football, but needless to say we wish Joey well at his new club."

Barton signed for Rangers in May but has since been involved in several controversial incidents. The midfielder is currently suspended by his club after a training ground bust-up and is under investigation by the Scottish FA over an alleged breach of strict gambling rules.