Speculation over McGeady's future has been rife this summer, with Spartak Moscow having made a bid - reportedly £8.3million - for the Republic of Ireland winger, while other clubs have also expressed an interest.

Lennon revealed two weeks ago he got a "vibe" from the 24-year-old that he wanted out of Parkhead but has refrained from quizzing him outright.

McGeady travelled with Celtic to London today ahead of this weekend's Emirates Cup and Lennon insisted the midfielder would play some part in the pre-season tournament.

However, the Hoops boss gave the same assurance the day before Wednesday night's Champions League third qualifying round first leg defeat at Braga, only for the player to be left out of the squad altogether.

Lennon claimed afterwards McGeady had been ruled out with a back injury but his omission only served to fuel rumours he is on the brink of being sold.

Asked if he knew what McGeady wanted, Lennon said: "No. He wanted to play on Wednesday, so that was a good sign, encouraging from our point of view.

"But I haven't really sat down and said, 'Are you away?', or 'Do you want to go?' or anything like that because I don't want to put unnecessary pressure on him."

Lennon was unable to give any assurance McGeady would stay beyond the end of the transfer window.

"I really can't answer that question," said the Northern Irishman, who confirmed there was a "big bid" on the table.

"Obviously, there's strong interest - not just from Moscow. We do believe there's interest from other clubs as well."

He added: "He's a big player for us and he has been for a number of seasons.

"He was very important to me in the run-in to last season.

"He's a talented player, a very talented player. But every player has his price, and sometimes we can't stand in the way of that.

"If it's right for the club - the offer - and right for the player then it's hard to stop these things going through."

Aston Villa and Tottenham are two of the Barclays Premier League clubs strongly linked with McGeady and Lennon has no doubt the player would be a success wherever he ended up.

However, he also rubbished suggestions the winger's development would be slowed if he did decide to stay at Parkhead.

"I think he would do well anywhere," Lennon said.

"He's a top-quality player and he has been for a number of years since he broke onto the scene in 2005.

"He's a player who works really hard at his game, tries to get better at everything he does.

"People say he won't develop at Celtic.

"Utter nonsense, because probably the best player we've had at the club in the last 30 years, in Henrik Larsson, developed into a world-class player at Celtic."

As well as having to deal with the possible departure of McGeady, Lennon has been trying to add new faces to his squad.

He suffered another blow on that front this afternoon when David James elected to join Bristol City, only days after Sol Campbell snubbed Celtic for Newcastle.

Lennon is now being linked with a move for former Germany goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand, who like James would be available on a free transfer.

"There have been no talks as far as I'm concerned," said Lennon of the player whose contract with Hoffenheim expired at the end of last season.

But he added: "We've only got one sort of consistent goalkeeper in (Lukasz) Zaluska and we need to get another one in.

"We lost a superb goalkeeper in (Artur) Boruc so it's imperative that we replace him, and the quicker the better."