Bolton Wanderers boss Sam Allardyce insists El-Hadji Diouf is going nowhere this summer.
The Senegal striker has been banished from the first-team dressing room at Bolton's Euxton training ground and forced to undergo punishing extra sessions in a bid to gain extra fitness after returning from the African Nations Cup requiring a double hernia operation.
Allardyce has now decided Diouf will not play again this season, a move which will only heighten talk of a close-season move for the man who cost around £4million, a club record fee, when he joined the Trotters from Liverpool almost 12 months ago after impressing during a loan spell at the Reebok.
However, the Bolton chief is adamant he has taken the decision to withdraw Diouf from first-team activities in order to ensure he is back to full fitness when the new campaign gets underway in August.
And Allardyce claims any talk of a transfer is wide of the mark.
"I have no doubt El-Hadji will be here next season," said Allardyce. "He is finished for this season because the injury has taken its toll and his confidence is low.
"Basically, he played with injections at the African Nations Cup and we have paid the cost of it since he came back.
"The lad has really been struggling, first physically and now mentally, so we have taken him out completely and taken the pressure off so he can concentrate on next season. As far as I am concerned, his pre-season starts now."
