O'Neill planning quick Rivaldo snatch

CELTIC boss Martin O'Neill declared yesterday he would start at the top of the transfer market and work down after confirming his interest in Rivaldo.

Brazilian World Cup star Rivaldo has been involved in discussions with Bolton, but no deal with the former Barcelona and AC Milan player has been agreed.

O'Neill is hoping to snatch Rivaldo from under the noses of the Premiership club after setting out his transfer ambitions for the summer.

O'Neill said: "I am going to go right to the top and then make my way down.

"If we want to make sure that we have a driving ambition in the Champions League next season, why not?

"Like anything else we'd prefer to keep these things quiet we have been linked with so many players.

"But the truth is when somebody like Rivaldo becomes available you have got to be interested.

"I wouldn't want to be giving any bookmakers odds and it might be a move of great difficulty but he is a class player we would be looking to buy."

O'Neill wants to strengthen his squad to improve upon his side's performances in Europe.

Celtic reached the UEFA Cup final last year and the quarter-finals this season but want to make an impression in the Champions League.

Henrik Larsson needs to be replaced, with the Swede due to leave Parkhead at the end of the season.

O'Neill, though, was reluctant to talk about the clutch of stars already being linked with moves to Parkhead.

Everton defender Gary Naysmith and Chelsea's Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink are the latest names on the list.

But the Celtic boss added: "The only difference is that Rivaldo hasn't got a football club so that is different than talking about other people's players."

O'Neill has set his sights on the club's first whitewash over Rangers since 1972 at Parkhead tomorrow, which would end a worrying run before the Tennent's Scottish Cup final.

In the menatime, Rangers manager Alex McLeish is hoping to snare Monaco striker Dado Prso.

The Croatian international is out of contract in the summer and knows he will not be short of offers. The 29-year-old has agreed to jet into Glasgow this weekend to see what Rangers have to offer.

Monaco have a home game with Marseille on Sunday night and an even bigger fixture on the immediate horizon on May 26, when they take on Porto in the Champions League final.

But McLeish already knows that Prso regards Ibrox, which will host a Champions League qualifier next season, as one of European football's most atmospheric venues.

He said: "I think he mentioned in the Champions League programme that Ibrox was his favourite ground.

"I can confirm we are talking to him this weekend. We have watched him a few times and he has scored a few goals this season.

"He is involved in a Champions League final and in the European Championships and he has impressed me every time I have seen him.

"It is not a done deal. But he is coming to talk to us so that says he is interested. We will have to watch this space and see if the other options appeal more."

Prso, who bagged a Champions League record four goals in an 8-3 thrashing of Deportivo in November, is a powerful forward whom McLeish regards as British in style.

He said: "He is a decent centre-forward who when he gets to turn and face goals doesn't hang about.

"He is a good all-round footballer and good in the air too, unlike some foreigners."

It is understood that the player, who also scored against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final last month, has already met Rangers owner David Murray in France.