GABRIEL Tamas's agent last night insisted the player had not priced himself out of a move to Celtic after the Auxerre defender's proposed move to Glasgow collapsed.
Talks over a £3.5 million transfer hit a standstill this week, with reports suggesting that Celtic had failed to meet the player's wage demands.
However the Romania international's agent, Florin Manea, insisted that, contrary to speculation, Tama
s was happy to take a drop in wages to finalise a move to Parkhead and
that it was Celtic's decision to pull out of the deal and not the player or his representatives.
He claimed that a number of top European sides were tracking his client and that they are lining up to take advantage of the Parkhead club's hesitation.
Manea said: "All the talk that seems to be coming from Celtic about agents' fees and commission is nonsense. We didn't even talk about commission. All we did was agree the player's contract.
"It's true that Gabriel did ask for £20,000-per-week, but he was happy to accept Celtic's offer, even though it wasn't very good, in my opinion.
"His desire to play in the UK was so strong that he was willing to accept £16,000-per-week. But I don't know what happened after that.
"I spoke to (chief executive] Peter Lawwell and, as far as we were aware, all that had to be done was for him to speak to Auxerre. It seems Celtic pulled out of the deal, or had a problem with the French club.
"At the end of the day, they could have had a bargain and they let it slip away."
PSV Eindhoven and Sampdoria are both believed to be waiting in the wings to capitalise on the Parkhead side's indecision, but Manea revealed that Celtic have always been the player's first choice.
He added: "Gabi is only 24 and there's no doubt he will become a big star in the future. We have had lots of other offers so we are not worried about the situation in the slightest.
"But it's a shame for him, he really wanted it to happen. It would have been a very good piece of business for Celtic. Is the deal dead? That's up to them."
Celtic have made only two signings this summer, with Georgios Samaras arriving from Manchester City for £1.2 million and Paddy McCourt from Derry City for £150,000.
Elsewhere, it has emerged Steven Pressley has failed to win a contract at Doncaster Rovers because of a lack of fitness.
The former Celtic and Hearts defender played a friendly for the newly-promoted Championship side against Scunthorpe United but the veteran is short of match practice and Rovers manager Sean O'Driscoll has told the Scotland coach he won't be offering him a deal.
He said "We are looking for someone younger and quicker. And Steven admits himself he is a bit rusty and needs to work on his fitness. But he is a player with a tremendous attitude and we agreed to keep in touch if the situation changes."
The full article contains 524 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
