Bobo Balde's move to Marseille could be back on after the French club refused to give up hope of signing the Celtic defender.
A clause in Balde's contract means he can leave Parkhead for nothing before the August 31 transfer deadline but personal terms had appeared to scupper any chance of the deal being completed.
However, Marseille president Pape Diouf has since negotiated the season-long loan move of Pegguy Luyindula to Auxerre and that could free up the cash needed to lure Balde back to France.
But Diouf was remaining cautious about finally securing the services of the Celtic centre-back.
He said: "We can't close the door completely on a move for Balde and right now I feel it's difficult for us to say we will or we won't make this transfer.
"But maybe something can change to repair this deal and bring him to Marseille. I say this with some pessimism though.
"The player clearly wanted to come to us but from the start we knew it would be a difficult piece of business because of the finances involved."
