CELTIC have missed out on a bid to bring north Portsmouth�s £2million-rated midfielder Sean Davis.

CELTIC have missed out on a bid to bring north Portsmouth's £2million-rated midfielder Sean Davis.

But the Parkhead club are still very much on the trail of Barcelona's Marc Crosas and Auxerre defender Gabriel Tamas.

Crosas was on the bench for Barca in the early hours of this morning as the Catalan club opened their tour of America with a 5-2 win over Chivas Guadalajara in Chicago.

The 20 year-old's agent, Angell Castell, revealed today the deal to bring him to Celtic is still to be negotiated between the clubs.

Until such times as it is concluded, Crosas will remain in the States preparing for Barca's next game, against New York Red Bulls on Thursday.

Castell said: "Marc is still in the States, but I have not spoken to him since last night's game.

"Talks between the clubs were still continuing on Friday, but then they stopped for the weekend. I expect they will start again now.

"There are no plans for Marc to fly to Glasgow just now. The clubs have to come to an agreement first.

"As soon as we are told this has been done, we will arrange to come to Glasgow."

The capture of Crosas would be a real boost for manager Gordon Strachan as, along with chief executive Peter Lawwell, he has been working hard throughout the transfer window to add to his midfield.

Portsmouth's 28-year-old Davis was one of the men on the target list.

The former England Under-21 player - previously linked with Rangers - has been frozen out at Pompey since Lassanna Diarra arrived mid-season.

Harry Redknapp is prepared to let the 5ft 11in Londoner move on for around £2m.

But Davis, who previously played for Fulham and Spurs, wants to remain in the Premiership and is now expected to move back to Craven Cottage.

Strachan's policy is to have several signing targets for each position, and that is being tested in this window.

Romanian defender Tamas has always been very high on his wanted list, and the 24-year-old's long-running signing saga is finally showing signs of coming to a successful conclusion.

He would cost around £3.7m, but his arrival - and that of Crosas - could not be better timed as Celtic's walking wounded arrived back in Glasgow from Holland today.

The injury problems are mounting at an alarming rate just six days before the Parkhead side are due to kick off their title defence against St Mirren.

Skipper Stephen McManus missed the 3-1 win over Feyenoord with a lower stomach problem which will require further checks.

Barry Robson was also unable even to take a seat on the subs bench in Rotterdam last night, while Mark Wilson and Georgios Samaras both limped out of the action with ankle and leg knocks respectively.

Ben Hutchinson, Paddy McCourt, Cillian Sheridan and Jo Doumbe are also out of action.

With Shunsuke Nakamura and Koki Mizuno both undergoing surgery last week, and Kris Killen and Evander Sno on Olympic duty, Strachan was already operating with a near-skeleton squad which, since the start of the pre-season games, has seen the number of available men drop rapidly from 23 to around 15.

As he received the very latest updates on his players ahead of Wednesday's friendly against Manchester City, the concerned manager admitted: "Our resources are limited at the moment. We didn't even have enough to fill the subs bench. That says we are short in the squad.

"We're working hard to fill places and help these lads that are here get a rest.

"We are trying our best to sign players. We are active in quite a few places.

"From the players' point of view, I'm hopeful that the squad can be added to before the start of the season."