Grant sought signature of Celtic keeper Boruc before he received Chelsea axe

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The Israeli was sacked by Stamford Bridge oligarch Roman Abramovich in May - just days after suffering a penalty shoot-out defeat to Manchester United in the Champions League Final.

Before being pushed to make way for Phil Scolari, however, the 53-year-old eyed up Boruc - only to be scared off by Celtic's mammoth price tag for the Pole.

Top stopper: Celtic keeper Artur Boruc (right) was interesting Chelsea

Chelsea sources have told Sportsmail that the Premiership runners-up wanted Poland's Euro 2008 star as top-class cover for Petr Cech, but refused to countenance a fee now reckoned to be in the region of £15million for a stand-in.

Interviewed in Poland's Super Express newspaper, Grant admitted: 'Boruc's performances (in Euro 2008) were no surprise because I knew about him from the Scottish league.

'I wanted to take him to Stamford Bridge and did an overview to check how much we would have to pay. But it appeared that Celtic expected a huge amount of money.

'Now the price tag is unreal. When I hear that, after a strong performance at Euro 2008, he is now worth between £10m and £15m, I know immediately that nobody will pay that kind of money for a goalkeeper.

'Boruc is a top-quality goalkeeper. He is brave, confident and he won't get scared by anybody. Having a goalkeeper like this means you are midway to success.

'But I repeat, these kind of amounts are not paid for a goalkeeper - I think he will stay in Scotland next season.'