And Tom Rogic could well have helped after the Glasgow club formed a relationship with the Aussie club almost five years ago when the Socceroo went on a trial with Celtic.

Rogic subsequently joined Celtic for a reported fee of AU$750,000.

The club is now keen to have a permanent stake in the Australian football market.

Celtic officials were in recently in Australia and visited the Mariners' new Centre of Excellence training centre.

They also watched the club's 2-0 win over Sydney two weeks ago.

They are said to be waiting for the A-League’s new operating model to be finalised.

"I'm not surprised about their interest based on a new A-League operating model because I think it's got a lot of potential," Mariners' British-based chairman Mike Charlesworth told Fairfax Media.

"Frankly, I haven't personally spoken to anyone at Celtic, that's been handled by (chief executive) Shaun (Mielekamp) and (chief financial officer) Kathy (Duncan)."

But the Mariners are not the only club on Celtic’s radar with the club also interested in the Brisbane Roar.

However, an offer will not be made before December 1 once the FFA's Congress crisis is resolved.