The Nisbet To Celtic Story Is Still Alive Because Nobody Has Actually Killed It.

Kevin Nisbet for Leigh Griffiths and cash.

That was the rumour of the weekend, and it’s one that’s reared its head because it makes a lot of sense.

In many ways it’s the perfect solution to a difficult problem. What do we do with the striker who was booed coming on for a pre-season friendly with West Ham? Can we find a way to re-introduce him?

As far as Celtic goes, Griffiths has probably burned his bridges.

Even those who remain fans can’t possibly think it’s a good idea to risk our club’s current cohesion and feel-good status on a player we don’t really look like we need at the moment?

Griffiths isn’t worth dividing the fan-base over, and that as much as anything mitigates against him finding a way back.

Ange thinks good performances would do it, and if anyone can get a tune out of the player it’s the genial Aussie who’s already made several of our stars look better, but that’s not really the point.

Many fans have reached a point of no return here.

Over at Hibs, Griffiths is still a hero and their fans know he could do a good job for them.

Nisbet is a comer. He’s not yet reached the levels Griffiths is capable of and let’s be honest, he might never reach them.

It’s hard to imagine that their fans wouldn’t be broadly in favour of this if the club made a few million on top of it, allowing them to sign other players.

It’s a risk, but it’s a risk for both clubs.

It’s not terribly hard to imagine a piqued Griffiths, playing with something to prove, coming back to haunt us at some point. That could happen, and we’d have to do the deal well aware that it could.

The story has legs because it makes sense.

But it also has legs because both Postecoglou and Ross could have dismissed it as a non-starter at the weekend and neither actually did.

Ange was noncommittal because he knows this has to be an option.

Ross vehemently denied that the offer had been made, but if you read his comments he left the door open more than a crack. He also knows its viable and pointedly refused to dismiss it on principle, and that would have been easy to do.

There are eight days left in the transfer window, and you haven’t heard the last of this story.

It’s one of those sagas that is going to go to the wire.

The Rumour Guy is a Celtic fan and blogger from Glasgow.