Leicester City manager Peter Taylor yesterday agreed to Stan Collymore's transfer request - and then slammed the striker for his bad attitude.
Collymore's career in England now well be over after he indicated to Taylor that he wants to end his playing days on the Continent.
But in any case it is hard to see a club of any sort of pedigree in England taking the risk of signing Collymore, who has courted controversy throughout his career with Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Aston Villa.
Collymore insisted his transfer request was made because of his frustration at starting on the bench. But Taylor is highly critical of the striker's attitude since the Foxes rejected his pre-season demands for a new contract - he is being paid around £18,000-a-week on his current deal.
Taylor said: "I am very disappointed because Stan Collymore at his best should be playing for England. If we could have got him 100 per cent fit then we would have become a better team - but that hasn't been the case.
"Stan was excellent to start with in preseason training, and everything we tried to do he was first class about.
"But a week before the season started his advisers asked for very high wage demands and a new contract. As a club we couldn't and weren't prepared to meet those demands, and what is disappointing for me is that ever since that day Stan Collymore has not been as positive and his application has not been the same.
"For me Stan's performance against Everton on Sunday was totally unacceptable for a professional footballer, and I had to act."
Leicester were perceived as being the last-chance saloon when Collymore - following lengthy treatment for depression - signed in March after being frozen out of the first-team plans by Aston Villa manager John Gregory.
Taylor stressed his thinking has nothing to do with the incident involving Paul Gascoigne when Collymore appeared to stamp on - and later elbow - the midfielder during the Everton match.
Meanwhile, the FA have confirmed their video advisory panel will meet later this week to review Collymore's tangle with Gascoigne.
Argentinian World Cup star Claudio Caniggia is set to join Dundee until the end of the season. The 33-year-old striker, who played for his country in Italia 90 and in the United States four years later, will jet in today to discuss the possibility of a loan deal.
"We can confirm that Claudio will be arriving in the country with a view to having talks with Ivano Bonetti," said a club spokesman.
Caniggia was once suspended for 13 months in 1993 after testing positive for cocaine after playing for Roma against Napoli, two years after his friend and compatriot Diego Maradona was banned for 15 months for the same offence.
Former Italy coach Dino Zoff is to rejoin the staff of Italian champions Lazio as vice-president. Zoff, previously coach and president of the Rome club, was expected to return to Lazio after he quit as Italy coach following Euro 2000.
