Ferencvaros boss Robbie Keane says he was not affected by rumoured Celtic interest ahead of clash with Rangers

Robbie Keane revealed speculation over a potential move to Celtic had no impact on him.

Keane was among the names on bookmakers’ lists before Wilfried Nancy emerged as Brendan Rodgers’ permanent successor.

The Irishman will get a brief taste of Scottish football on Thursday when his Ferencvaros team host Rangers in the Europa League.

The former Hoops forward has led both Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Budapest side to league titles during the early years of his managerial career but he is not looking for a challenge beyond Hungary.

“My mind is just here,” he said. “I am very happy here. It has been a really good year, it’s been a successful year. We won the league last year. We are doing well in Europe now. We are at the top of the league. I am really enjoying it. I work with good people here.

“I can’t help speculation. My time at Celtic was great. Of course, I went there, we were already 12 or 14 points behind. So it was obviously going to be a difficult task to win. But just the chance to play at Celtic was huge for me.

“I had an unbelievable time there for the six months I was there. I was personally successful in what I did.

“Of course, you would want to win something when you’re at Celtic but the team was certainly in a transitional period at that time. But it was great. The years after that, they’ve been dominating for a long time.”

When asked if he would like to return one day, the 45-year-old said: “Listen, you can never say never in football, of course, but I never think too far ahead.

“You can’t. I have to concentrate on what I do, because you take your eye off the ball here, and then you start losing games, you lose your job.

“So, never say never, of course, but at the moment I’m very, very happy here.”

Keane is not the only member of the Ferencvaros set-up with experience of Scottish football.

Former Aberdeen player and manager Stephen Glass is his assistant and goalkeeper David Grof spent two years with Hibernian early in his career.

“I moved to Scotland when I was 16 years old,” Grof said. “It was a big step in my life. It was a great place where I could learn a lot.

“Scotland is very close to my heart. To this day, I have a lot of friends in Scotland with whom I still keep in touch. In fact, there will be people who come and visit me now.

“So it’s special that I can play against a Scottish team, but I also thank the country very much.”