Eyal Berkovic last night publicly conceded what Celtic supporters have long suspected when he admitted that money was the prime motivation behind his £5.75million move to Glasgow. Eyal Berkovic: Celtic........ ....show me the money (BenRadford/Allsport) As the Israeli international's agent pursues a £2m move to Aston Villa for the unwanted Parkhead midfielder - despite denials of any interest from within Villa Park - Berkovic's frustration at the nightmare of his spell in Scottish football threatened to spill over last night.

Lashing out at the decision of Chelsea to lavish £11m on former West Ham midfield colleague Frank Lampard, the 29-year-old admitted that there could be no way back under Martin O'Neill.

However, Berkovic vowed to justify his self-conviction by re-establishing himself in the Premiership - if Celtic agree to stump up a disputed loyalty bonus and if any of the alleged four clubs pursuing his signature can match exorbitant wages of £28,000 a week.

Berkovic insisted: 'Someone else would have been destroyed by what I have gone through at Celtic, but I'm a winner and will not be broken.

'Yes, money is an important factor, but I decided to join Blackburn on loan in order to play. I could have told Celtic that I was going to stay in Glasgow for the full five years of my contract, report for training and return to my house and play with the central heating.

'But no. I picked myself up, stepped down to the First Division, went to Blackburn and helped them win promotion while showing that I still have something to contribute.'

However, in a frank admission that prestige was secondary to cash when signed by the John Barnes-Kenny Dalglish axis, the former West Ham player conceded: 'I knew what I was doing all along. I followed the money. It is the truth and I'm not ashamed of it.

'But how is it that Frank Lampard was bought by Chelsea for £11m while clubs are only offering £2m for me?

'I played alongside Frank Lampard at West Ham and he is a player I admire as a person and a professional. But we had similar seasons and now he is worth £11m while I am worth £2m.

'There is only one answer. This is football and it is a funny game.'

Berkovic's representative Pini Zahavi maintains the interest from Villa is more real than imagined saying: 'Talks between Celtic and Villa are well under way and the option that Eyal will go to Birmingham was raised. Those talks will continue and no other option will be discussed until this one is exhausted.'

Berkovic added: 'I will not go back to Celtic with great pleasure. It is a well-known fact that the manager doesn't like my style of play, it's as simple as that.

'I respect him for that and don't have a problem with it. Despite what people may think, we don't even hold a grudge against one another. It is just a fact that Celtic don't want me and therefore I don't want to play for Celtic.'

-- Anonymous, July 04, 2001

Answers

At the time he signed I commenetd on here about Dalglish's role in this. Kenny openly boatsed inthe paper that Celtic had nearly doubled the guys wages from 15k per week to this 28k. Two things bothered me, one was the logic behind telling the world and the other was the logic behind doubling someones wages. Presumably he would have have moved for an extra 7k per week (350k per year) but no Kenny had to commit to paying this guy around £1.5m for five years.

At least Kenny got compensation when Celtic sacked him

-- Anonymous, July 04, 2001