Celtic have solved the problems of a player in contractual dispute with his club, not by selling him, but, for a change, by buying him. Yesterday, they announced they had bought Henrik Larsson from Feyenoord for a fee of around #650,000, on a contract for three years.

The 25-year-old Swedish international striker had wished to leave Holland for some time, but had to go to a tribunal of the Dutch FA to have a clause in his contract upheld, allowing him to leave for the stipulated fee. He is the third signing Celtic have made since Wim Jansen was appointed head coach - and their second purchase in two days - taking their spending to almost #4.5m and seemingly set to rise further.

Rennes defender Stephan Mahe was also in Glasgow yesterday, and he is thought to have agreed terms with Celtic.

An announcement is expected in the next few days, but Celtic appear not to be in too great a hurry to make it. It seems they are enjoying their days domina-ting newspaper back pages because players are happy to come to the club, rather than trying to leave.

Larsson is a proven goal-scorer, having scored 24 goals in 99 appearances for Feye-noord. Before that he came to prominence with Swedish side Helingsborgs, scoring 50 goals in 60 matches, and he has netted 7 times in his 27 appearances for Sweden.

If the formalities can be completed in time Larsson will make his debut for Celtic in their friendly against Parma at Parkhead this afternoon.

''I am very pleased to announce the signing of a new player in Henrik Larsson,'' Celtic chief executive Fergus McCann said yesterday. ''We are catching up with our plans. We said there would be a general manager in place before the season started, a head coach, and an assistant head coach, and some new players. Here is another one.''

The head coach, Jansen, was not there, however, to comment on this latest signing, although unlike the previous two purchases - Darren Jackson and Craig Burley - he has first-hand knowledge of Larsson, having coached him for three months when he was at Feyenoord.

''When Wim Jansen started to have discussions with myself and Davie Hay, Henrik Larsson was the No.1 player in Dutch football that he wanted,'' general manager Jock Brown said. ''He is a Wim Jansen man through and through.'' And a Celtic man through and through to boot - apparently.

''When I first spoke to Henrik 16 days ago,'' - having received permission to do so from his club, Feyenoord, of course - ''he knew all about Celtic and was very com- mitted to coming here,'' Brown added.

''The fact that he stuck with all the legal formalities of the tribunal shows the very clear resolve he had to come to Celtic.''

The player himself was not claiming any in-depth knowledge of the club, however.

''I think that is exaggerated a little bit, but I do know a bit about Celtic having watched the television coverage of Pierre van Hooydonk,'' Larsson said.

The mention of big Pierre, who had all those big contract problems, should not encourage a sense of foreboding, however.

Larsson confirmed that there is no verbal or gentleman's agreement other than his written contract and he is not expecting a pay rise at the end of the season if he does well.

''Everything is quite clear in my contract,'' Larsson said, and, indeed, Brown was happy to confirm that he felt the player's mentality was such, that despite his problems with Feyenoord, there would be no repeat of the difficulties Celtic have experienced with the three other continental players they have signed of late.

''We have done our homework and checked,'' Brown said. ''Wim Jansen knows him. He coached him. Not a bad start.''

Instead, Larsson has picked the positive bones out of the van Hooydonk experience.

''I was very impressed with the way Pierre improved when he came here from Breda,'' Larsson said. ''I am coming here to develop myself as a football player and the fact that I know the trainer is always a help.''

Presumably the trainer - Jansen - has a high opinion of him, but he was not there to give it. Instead, he was present at a separate press conference two-and-a-half hours earlier to speak about today's match against Parma.

Jansen could not be drawn at all on the subject of Larsson then, or, indeed, be drawn much on any other subject.

Considering that Celtic are still learning Jansen's methods, that new players have still to bed in, and that recent per- formances have been less than impressive he was asked if playing a side of Parma's quality might not be the most appropriate fixture for a side in the process of change.

''It is not easy for us, but we still want to play this game,'' Jansen said.

As negotiations for players continue all the time, how many new players is he looking for, even if he was not going to name names?

''I cannot tell you,'' Jansen said.

Jansen is in need of some goalkeeping back-up and has made the first moves to get some by bringing Hungarian internationalist Szabolcs Safar to Celtic Park on trial.

The 21-year-old goalkeeper has played for his country nine times and was named Hungary's player of the year last year. He is out of contract with his club, Vasa Budapest, and could move to Celtic without a transfer fee.

The need for another goalkeeper has been caused by the knee injury which is keeping last season's first choice, Stewart Kerr, out of action.

He is back in training, although he is not yet allowed to run, but Jansen was hopeful that he could be back playing in the next two or three weeks.

The situation with the transfer of Mahe is likely to be resolved today, according to his agent Frederique Dobreje.

''I will speak with Celtic both on Saturday morning and afternoon about Stephane's position,'' Dobreje said.

If personal terms can be agreed, the fee to be paid to his club, Rennes, is likely to be around #500,000.

Like Jackson and Burley, Mahe was first linked with Celtic in the days when Tommy Burns was manager at Parkhead.