THE first player to leave Celtic Park in the wake of the Wim Jansen affair may be central defender Alan Stubbs, who has always hinted that his family has found it difficult to settle in Scotland.
Blackburn Rovers, who made a late run in the Premiership to clinch a place in next season's UEFA Cup, want to take Stubbs back south. Their manager, Roy Hodgson, has cash to spend after reshaping his team and ending up with a transfer surplus.
Stubbs has become a major target, with Hodgson seeing the former Bolton Wanderers player as the ideal partner for Scotland's Colin Hendry at the centre of the Ewood Park defence.
It is to Blackburn's advantage that Stubbs is one of the players who has indicated his unhappiness at the way Jansen was allowed to leave after leading the team to the Coca-Cup Cup and the championship.
Others, including Scotland World Cup men Paul Lambert and Craig Burley, have criticised the club's handling of the affair, but Stubbs could now be the first to go and Celtic would be able to collect a fee of around #4m for the player who was signed two years ago by former manager Tommy Burns.
Then he cost a club record fee of #3m and, in these post-Bosman times, Celtic could not be blamed if they decided to listen to offers for a player who is unhappy at Parkhead and whose family is disenchanted with life in Scotland.
Stubbs constantly has been linked with a transfer south, especially in his first season, when he took time to adjust to the pace of the Scottish game and when Celtic ended the season without a trophy.
The past season has been different, with the Englishman playing an important role in a defence whose improvement was instrumental in allowing Celtic to wrest the title from the long-term grasp of Old Firm rivals Rangers.
Only last week in Lisbon, following the friendly against Sporting Club, Stubbs admitted: ''I don't know what my future will be now that Wim Jansen has gone.
''Every player has his price and, if someone is interested in me, then I could be sold. After all, a new manager might not like my style of play. We are back with the same uncertainty we had last summer.''
There were suggestions early last season that Stubbs might be in line for an international call-up from England, but he was ignored by Glenn Hoddle, whose mis- givings over the quality of our domestic game are well known.
If Stubbs returned to Lanca-shire, his hopes for an England place would be improved.
Celtic will make changes in the summer in any case. As they have done in the past, it would seem likely that a large part of the financing of transfers into the club will be funded by player sales.
That was the pattern last season and, given the circumstances surrounding Stubbs now, his departure would allow the incoming manager - be it Norwegian Egil Olsen, or someone yet to be identified or approached by the new champions - cash to help bring in his own men. Which is, as we all know, what coaches across Europe do nowadays.
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