Scotland's a football backwater and I'd never bring Simunic to Glasgow now, Coelho's agent fumes at Celtic

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Italian representative Sabatino Durante declared his relief that the Brazilian didn't secure a transfer to Parkhead and end up in what the FIFA-listed representative clearly regards as a European football 'backwater'.

German international Andreas Hinkel's £1.8million move from Sevilla and the projected deal for Koki Mizuno appeared to scupper any chance of 24-year-old Coelho winning a contract.

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But embittered Durante couldn't resist a final swipe at Celtic by insisting that Serie A clubs should try to take Shunsuke Nakamura on trial.

"Corinthians are very angry with Celtic and so am I, because Coelho is a super player," said Durante. "I do not understand why they would bring over someone like that 'on trial'.

"He is not a kid. He is almost 25 years of age and he has already played for Brazil. I've dealt with many big players like Marco Materazzi, who won the World Cup, and Hidetoshi Nakata. I'm not happy with Celtic over this.

"But maybe it is for the best because how good is Scottish football, anyway? I'm from Italy and we've won the World Cup five times. Brazil have won it five times. You have never won anything.

"Maybe an Italian club should ask Celtic for Shunsuke Nakamura on trial. He's the best player in Scotland, it seems, but he did not amount to very much in Serie A.

"I remember watching him while he was here in Italy. In fact, I didn't watch him very often because he only used to make the starting line-up for about 10 games per season."

Coelho returned to his club, Corinthians, last week after failing to impress during a short trial with Celtic in the New Year.

Corinthians and Durante clearly believed the basis for a £2m agreement had been struck and, far from entering a trial period, the 24-year-old was coming to Glasgow to sign a three-year contract worth around £375,000 per year.

Now Durante insists he would not dream of bringing another client, Hertha Berlin defender Josip Simunic, to the Hoops.

"We will see what happens now for Coelho. Feyenoord and Roma have shown some interest," added the agent.

"One day, Celtic will regret this because I'm sure Coelho will become a big player in Europe. Maybe they doubted he was fit. But he is 100 per cent without injuries and a top player."

Durante also represents Croatian centre-half Simunic, who was linked with Celtic last week, as well as Bayern Munich's Daniel van Buyten.

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"I also represent Josip at Hertha," he said. "I don't know if Celtic are interested but I wouldn't be interested in bringing him there. He's a £2m-per-year type of guy.

"If it was Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea, then he might come to Britain but, for the moment, I think he will stay in Germany. For certain, I won't bring him to Glasgow on trial."

Corinthians last week posted on their club website a letter from Celtic to Durante concerning Coelho's proposed 'deal'.

Celtic are now considering their legal position in terms of what they see as a breach of confidentiality.