Sources: Celtic make move for Favre after Howe bombshell
Celtic have made contact with former Borussia Dortmund manager Lucien Favre amid Eddie Howe's bombshell, Football Insider has learned.
The prospect of Howe, 43, accepting their "wonderful" offer presented last week has diminished considerably as it emerged on Wednesday night via Sky Sports he does not plan to return to management until the summer at the earliest.
Football Insider had already revealed early on Wednesday (7th April) that Favre is also on the Hoops' shortlist and had been lined up as an alternative contender.
A Celtic source has said that contact has been made with the Swiss, 63, over him potentially taking the job.
The Scottish champions are not convinced Howe is willing to deal with the pressure and scrutiny of managing a club where the expectation is to win every match.
But he held back on putting pen to paper and the confirmation from his representative that he will not accept the post at this point is a major blow to the Glasgow giants.
Howe has left the door open, but Celtic are weighing up potential alternatives.
Favre, 63, is considered a genuine contender with an impressive CV.
He was dismissed by Dortmund in December but has a fine track record after managing top-flight teams in Germany, France and his native Switzerland.
Among his managerial honours are two league titles in Switzerland with Zurich.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel left German giants Dortmund with a win percentage in the Bundesliga of 61.76 (beaten only by Lucien Favre's 63.29 among Dortmund managers with at least 10 games in charge).
Favre had a two-and-a-half year spell at Dortmund, where he had an impressive 62 per cent win record, as well as four years at Borussia Mochengladbach and two years at French outfit Nice.
At Celtic, a huge rebuild is needed to overhaul Rangers following a calamitous campaign in which their 10-in-a-row hopes were left in tatters.