qNEVIO Scala, who failed to persuade Paul Lambert to stay on at Borussia Dortmund, where the Italian's season as coach ended in

disappointment, is now interested in following the Scottish midfielder to Celtic.

The 50-year-old is on the look-out for a new club after asking to be freed from his current contract on Thursday. Top European outfits, including Spanish sides Espanol and Barcelona, Turks Fenerbache and Greek club AEK Athens want Scala, but the former Parma coach yesterday admitted that he is willing to talk about a possible move to Glasgow should Celtic approach him with an offer.

''Celtic are a very big club and I know they have great players such as Paul Lambert, so going there would be a challenge,'' he said. Dortmund, European champions two seasons ago, finished a poor tenth this season and Scala put part of the blame on the loss of players like Lambert, who has tried to contact Scala to encourage his interest in Celtic.