The Brazil international has slipped down the pecking order at the Riverside Stadium and was omitted from the squad for the Barclays Premiership opener against Newcastle on Saturday.

Celtic executive director Peter Lawwell has already announced the board’s intention to back manager Martin O’Neill in his move for Juninho but conceded convincing the player to move to the Bank of Scotland Premier League was the major obstacle to the deal.

However, O’Neill did have the lure of a guaranteed Champions League football up his sleeve to tempt the playmaker north of the border.

Now Juninho appears to be on the verge of making the move from Teesside once an outstanding matter is resolved.

A Celtic spokesman said: “He is still in discussions with the club and nothing has been signed yet.

“We have had very positive talks with the player and he had a medical.

“Hopefully, we will have some more news within the next 48 hours or so.”

Juninho and his representative, Brian Hassall, have been in Scotland to meet with Celtic officials today for those talks.

Celtic have signed just one new player, with the year-long loan arrival of Henri Camara from Wolves.

The player became a cult hero at Middlesbrough following his arrival in November 1995 for then manager Bryan Robson from Sao Paulo.

But, despite his undoubted talent, the Brazilian was unable to prevent the club being relegated from the English top flight in 1997.

Consequently, Juninho moved to Atletico Madrid that summer for £12million.

However, his stay in Spain became a nightmare as he spent loan periods at Boro, Vasco da Gama and Flamengo before returning to Teesside on a full-time basis two years ago.