Celtic call time on Ginola deal

around'' for a better deal after Celtic and his club, Paris St Germain,

had reached agreement.

The statement from the Parkhead club said that they had also agreed

terms with the player's advisers and offered a deal which ''would have

made him one of the highest paid players in Britain''.

Ginola, who was in Glasgow last week, asked for two days before giving

a final decision but four days later there still has been no response

and, the statement goes on, ''apparently he did not find the prospect of

playing in Scottish football attractive.''

The fact that, in the interim, he was then touted around other

prospective buyers proved too much for Celtic who decided to withdraw

their #2.6m offer.

The Parkhead club's stand comes as no great surprise after a series of

transfers have fallen through because of delaying tactics used by

foreign players taking advantage of the current dearth of quality to try

to satisfy excessive demands.

Already this summer Celtic had thought they had secured deals for

Peter van Vossen, of Ajax, and Dimitri Radchenko, of Santander, but both

players went elsewhere after apparently using the Celtic offer as a

basis for furthering their financial ambitions.

Only yesterday Ginola had been reported as saying that he still had

the Celtic option to consider but ''hoped that it would bring a response

from Barcelona and even Bayern Munich.''

That was before Newcastle United, who had been turned down by the

player before, re-entered the starting stalls with a fresh bid.

Celtic's deal was understood to involve a package which would have

given the winger around #10,000 a week.

However, Newcastle are believed to be coming close to doubling that

offer with their package and it now looks likely that he will end up at

St James' Park.

While that will be galling for Celtic fans they might be willing to

accept that there are limits to the spending power of the Glasgow club

while the rebuilding of the stadium continues and, in any case, players

who take quite such a mercenary approach may not be ideal for the

Scottish game at present.

Ginola had asked too much even of Barcelona, whose manager Johan

Cruyff stepped back when he realised the player wanted close to #1.2m a

year as a basic salary.

The Spanish club manager, however, is under pressure to get back in

the race after selling Hristo Stoichkov to Parma for #4m this week.

Whoever wins the chase, Celtic are entitled to let their supporters

know how they feel. However brilliant the player is, there has to come a

point when a club must judge if it is being taken for a ride.

Celtic reckoned the moment had come to pull the communication cord on

the Ginola deal. There may be some more of the same before this summer

is out.

* ENGLAND captain David Platt will decide within the next fortnight

whether to return home from Italy.

Platt's club Sampdoria have opened the way for the midfield player to

end his four-year Italian association by agreeing #4.75m terms with a

top Premiership club.

Manchester United, Everton, Aston Villa, and Blackburn have all been

linked with Platt, whose career transfer moves total a world record

#17.4m.

Now, competition to land Platt looks set to intensify as the former

Villa player headed for a holiday in Sardinia to consider his options.