Martin O'Neill's brutal Celtic transfer slapdown as boss goes from signing Zidane to epic fallout after big bucks demand

Martin O'Neill knew when to turn on his wicked sense of humour - and Celtic transfer talks were not spared from brutal comebacks.

The 71-year-old is a legendary figure at Parkhead after joining from Leicester City in 2000, winning three Premiership titles and heading to a UEFA Cup final before leaving in 2005. He opted to take players with him from the Foxes to Celtic Park, and former Scotland international Matt Elliot thought he was going to be one of those stars.

But at the age of 32, he wanted a big payday, which he looked to take in Glasgow. And speaking on Undr the Cosh, it didn't go quite to plan as O'Neill turned on the cutting humour in the form of Real Madrid great Zinedine Zidane. Elliot explained: "When Martin left it was assumed he would come back for a few players. It started with Neil Lennon, then Steve Guppy, but my family was settled, but a year down the line things changed and things weren't going well at Leicester.

"We had dialogue indirectly and it came to the point where I thought it was going to happen. I said to my agent that if I was going to go and relocate, go big, I was 32 and it was going to be my last contract, go for it and have a bit of a laugh with figures.

"Whatever needs to be done, add a bit on. Bear in mind the agent has gone in heavy, I have picked the phone up. It was a bit of silence and it was Martin's voice.

"'Hello there, am I speaking to Zinedine f****** Zidane?' I think the agent must have gone too heavy!

"He said 'I know I like you but I don't like you that much' Leicester then decided to give me a four-year contract at 32, and then Martin fell out with me, he thought I was playing one off against the other.

"We cleared it up but he wouldn't talk to me for a while, I