FOR a few brief hours Tommy Burns thought he had signed David Ginola. The then Celtic manager knew it would be a crowd-pleasing acquisition, and he himself was excited by the prospect of fielding a team which would feature Paolo Di Canio on one flank, the Frenchman on the other and Jorge Cadete playing through the middle.

But it was a dream ended by a phone call from Ginola's representative, who revealed his client had opted for Newcastle instead, despite how well negotiations had gone at Parkhead earlier that same day. Burns, back at Celtic as first team coach and head of youth development, will not be alone in wondering whether the charismatic star ultimately regretted the decision he made back in 1995.

"Ginola definitely had some good moments at Newcastle, but he never won anything. It is a big club similar to Celtic, but it is Celtic without the trophies," he observed.

With Gordon Strachan incapacitated after hip surgery, it was Burns who handled Celtic's press obligations last week and, since the topic under discussion was marquee signings, he made a more than appropriate stand-in given his success in bringing the likes of Di Canio, Cadete and Pierre van Hooijdonk to the club during his three-year in charge in the mid-1990s.

In the aftermath of last weekend's final Old Firm game of the season, Strachan revealed he wanted to make "three great signings" over the summer to strengthen his championship-winning side. In recent times Celtic have been linked to the likes of Jason Koumas from West Brom, Jason Roberts from Blackburn and Hibernian's Scott Brown, but when Burns spoke on the eve of yesterday's match against Aberdeen, the latest name in the headlines was Bayern Munich's striker Roy Makaay.

Burns scoffed at that speculation, suggesting the experienced Dutchman was out of Celtic's league. "I think he is looking at playing at a different level, maybe somewhere like Barcelona. I think when it comes to the really top players, they will not come to Scotland - it just doesn't happen," he claimed.

His assessment was honest enough. Celtic, financially and geographically, are not in the same league as the likes of Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson has also talked about wanting to add three players to his title-winning squad, but the names in the frame at Old Trafford are of the calibre - and wage bracket - of Samuel Eto'o, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Owen.

Still Burns believes Celtic are now better placed to go after more sexy targets than in his day; not least because of their exploits in reaching the last 16 of the Champions League this season. Ultimately, however, he reckons it comes down to what the individual player is after from the move, and where salary and silverware rank in their priorities.

"There are some players who would look at Celtic and Glasgow and think well there are only two teams there' and they wouldn't see a great development for themselves here. But others come and really want to put themselves into a pressure situation, where there are demands on you to win things and play well and get into the Champions League.

"It really depends on the nature of the person you are talking to. If it is purely about money then there are other clubs who can offer more, but if they really want to push themselves to the limit, and take all the things that come with playing for Celtic - the pressure, expectation and tradition - then great. And you don't mind paying a bit of extra money for that."

Last summer Celtic proved themselves more than willing to go the extra mile with the recruitment of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Thomas Gravesen; the latter on spectacular salary of around £40,000 a week.

While the Dutchman, when not injured, has looked well worth his £3.6m transfer fee, the same could not be said about the Dane recruited from Real Madrid. Evander Sno, even in his teens, has looked a more reliable, disciplined option than Gravesen, and low profile signings such as Lee Naylor have proved far more profitable in terms of their contribution this season.

Gravesen may be Celtic's equivalent of a "galactico" in terms of salary, but there may be plenty around Parkhead who would be delighted if Roy Keane firmed up his interest in bidding for the midfielder this summer as Sunderland prepare for their return to the Premiership.

Bobo Balde, given his salary and Celtic's many options in central defence, is another whose departure could be beneficial in freeing up funds to supplement spending in the areas where Strachan does need to strengthen - most obviously by adding pace and mobility in his midfield and in finding a partner for Vennegoor of Hesselink up front.

Those are decisions for Celtic's manager rather than the first team coach, but Burns believes the team's tall Dutch striker is a perfect example of the type of character who is lured as much by the challenge as the cash on offer in Scotland.

"I think the Dutch are famous for looking to get experience outside their own country. They see the thing for more than just money. Jan looked into the background about Celtic and Scotland. He talked to Van Hooijdonk and Giovanni van Bronckhorst and it is great players like that speak about the positive experience they had here."

When it was suggested Vennegoor of Hesselink should be encouraged to phone his compatriot Makaay to sell Celtic to him, Burns just laughed. Maybe that would be a wasted call. But having banked a pre-tax profit of almost £18m in the last half year, at the same time as reducing their wages-to-turnover ratio to an impressive 31%, Celtic have given themselves a healthy platform to invest sensibly in search of further success.