The Scottish champions made the Lithuania international their top midfield target following Arne Engels’ £22million move to West Ham. Martin O'Neill was keen to bring the 23-year-old playmaker to Glasgow before the transfer window slammed shut, but Torino stood firm and made it clear a potential £9million offer would not be enough to prise him away.

Gineitis previously admitted he would have been interested in a move to Celtic and left the door open to a future transfer. Now speculation over a January revival is likely to intensify after the midfielder appeared to air his disappointment over his current situation in Turin.

The former target has found opportunities hard to come by under new boss Ignazio Abate and has largely been restricted to substitute appearances. His struggles began after he was hooked at half-time during the defeat to Roma on September 14.

Gineitis was handed another cameo role in last weekend’s 3-1 defeat to Como and afterwards could not hide his frustration.

He said: “These haven’t been the best months of my life, but I’ve always trained. The manager decides. I wanted to play and I did what I could today.”

The midfielder also revealed how Abate’s arrival has brought a major change in approach compared to last season.

Gineitis added: “The coach wants us to never be afraid and to play with the ball at our feet, whereas last year we played forward. This year we've changed a lot.”