CELTIC are in danger of having their bid to sign Jason Koumas hijacked - by former Parkhead manager Martin O'Neill.

The Aston Villa boss has made the West Brom midfielder his next signing target.

And Koumas has revealed that he is to have discussions with Baggies boss Tony Mowbray and chairman Jeremy Pearce about a £6million move to Villa Park.

Bankrolled by American billionaire Randy Lerner, O'Neill is expected to be a big player in this summer's transfer window.

And the asking price placed on Koumas, plus the personal demands of the 27-year-old Welshman, would prove no hurdle to brokering a deal.

Although they have had Koumas on their wanted list for several months, Celtic - appreciating they can't compete with Premiership clubs when it comes to top wages - have been prepared to sit back and adopt a wait-and-see approach.

They would be ready to step in if it looked like the player, who has made it clear he does not want to remain at West Brom after they failed to win a place in the Premiership through last week's play-off final defeat to Derby at Wembley, did not receive the kind of offer he anticipates to step up to the English top flight.

West Brom will have to offload some of their top earners as they regroup and attempt to mount another promotion push for next season.

But Koumas looks like commanding top dollar from Villa or Everton, Sunderland or Blackburn, who are all close on his trail.

Celtic have planned for such eventualities and have a list of options made up of players from across Europe, including some whose names have not even been linked with the club so far and who operate in the very top leagues on the Continent.

Fenerbahce's Ghanian Stephen Appiah has been the subject of speculation for some time and is known to be on Gordon Strachan's radar.

Now, with Koumas slipping away, this interest is likely to be stepped up.

Chief executive Peter Lawwell has confirmed that the £4.4million signing of Scott Brown does not mark the end of the spending.

In fact, repeating this kind of serious outlay is not beyond the club - who are expected to report impressive figures for the financial year just ended - in this window.

After the whirlwind activity which saw Motherwell's Scott McDonald and Hibs duo Brown and Chris Killen brought in before the window had been open for more than a day, it might take a little more patience and perseverance before subsequent signings are landed.

But the hard work behind the scenes is unrelenting and the rewards are expected to make this all very worthwhile.

One man who won't be moving to Celtic is 24-year-old Joey Barton.

The controversial Manchester City midfielder - whose name has been linked to the SPL champions - is expected to join Newcastle today.