Celtic's new £5.75million signing Neil Lennon finally completed his four-and-a-half-year deal yesterday and immediately admitted his heart was always elsewhere following Martin O'Neill's departure from Leicester City last summer.
The Northern Ireland midfielder even told O'Neill's successor Peter Taylor that he wanted to leave on his very first day in charge at Leicester. "I more or less expressed a wish to go and play with Celtic and obviously he said to me he would have to think about that."
But Lennon signed a new contract at Filbert Street in the summer and Taylor must have felt the speculation had been put to bed at long last.
His desire to play at Parkhead continued to burn, though, and the former Crewe player admits that back then he should have done what he did last Thursday and pushed Taylor into selling him to O'Neill.
"I decided I would force the issue and I told Peter last Thursday that I really wanted to go and come here and have a go at it."
Lennon looks set now to make his debut in tomorrow's Scottish Premier League clash with Dundee at Dens Park.
Giant Croatian Igor Biscan has become Gerard Houllier's 10th signing in nine relentlessly expensive months. The £5.5million 22year-old midfielder, signed from Dynamo Zagreb, trained with his new Liverpool team-mates for the first time less than 24 hours after their impressive march into the last 16 of the UEFA Cup - via Thursday's 2-0 triumph over Olympiakos.
His medical and final contract details were officially concluded before the match with the Greeks to make him Houllier's 21st signing in just over two years. The 6ft 5in youngster will be in tomorrow's squad against Ipswich at Anfield now that his international clearance has arrived.
Alex Ferguson has confirmed he will remain at Old Trafford in some capacity when he steps down as manager at the end of next season.
He reiterated he will not continue as manager and instead will take up some role separate from the first team.
He said: "It will certainly not be team manager, but hopefully something will be worked out between the club and myself."
United have already offered Ferguson a position as head of the club's youth development policy and the two sides have been discussing his future role.
Colin Hendry last night completed a loan move to Bolton after paying to be released from Coventry. The Scotland international, 35, who was frozen out at Highfield Road, will officially join the First Division side on Monday for three months, after agreeing to finance the reported £125,000 loan fee that Coventry were seeking.
