West Bromwich Albion have confirmed Celtic have made an official approach for manager Tony Mowbray.

Speculation has been rife that the former Hibernian manager was the man Celtic wanted to replace Gordon Strachan but West Brom had previously denied there had been any contact.

"After two weeks of speculation, I have finally received a call from Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive, requesting permission to speak to Tony," Jeremy Peace, the West Brom chairman, said. "I made it absolutely clear that Celtic's approach was not welcome because we have an ongoing project at Albion in which Tony is an integral part."

Swansea City revealed last week Celtic had made an approach for Roberto Martinez but he is poised to take over from Steve Bruce at Wigan Athletic this week.

A return to the Scottish Premier League is likely to be attractive to Mowbray following West Brom's relegation back to the Championship last month. However, Peace believes the former defender has unfinished business at The Hawthorns.

"Tony's style of play is a key factor in that project and the supporters have very much bought into it, as everyone saw by the terrific reception the fans gave Tony and the players after our final home game against Liverpool. It is also reflected by the fact we have already sold more than 16,000 season tickets for 2009-10."

Mowbray has a compensation clause in his contract which is believed to be in the region of £2million. "We inserted a compensation figure when Tony signed a new contract 16 months ago to ensure that the club would be suitably recompensed in the event of any other club seeking his services," Peace said. "Most people would regard it as a fair figure. It was inserted in the contract in good faith and is non-negotiable because we don't want to lose our manager.

"Celtic have been made aware of the compensation figure and, if they agree to pay this, only then will I speak to Tony to get his thoughts on the situation. Until and unless that happens, as far as we are concerned, it is business as usual as we plan for a very important season ahead of us.

"We hope this is the end of the matter as we do not need any further, unwelcome distractions for the job in hand."