MIDDLESBROUGH'S Juninho is only one of a number of names on Celtic's summer hit-list as the Scottish champions seek a creative spark for the new season.

Bhoys boss Martin O'Neill has already been thwarted in his attempts to sign three players capable of providing the ammunition for the club's strikers by unlocking defences. Now O'Neill has started to look elsewhere for his man and Juninho has been consistently mentioned with a move to Celtic Park in recent days.

But the little Boro star is not the only player being considered by Celtic, with Euro 2004 star Marek Heinz and Steaua Bucharest's Florentin Dumitru also in the frame.

The Glasgow giants have had to draw up a new action plan after failing in their attempts to sign their main transfer targets.

The most recent was Yildary Basturk. The Turkish attacking midfielder is understood to have been offered £35,000 a week to join Celtic but he opted to stay in Germany with Hertha Berlin instead.

And Basturk's reluctance to move to Scotland followed O'Neill's failure to land both Bolton's Jay-Jay Okocha and Brazilian Rivaldo.

But Celtic, who have a budget of at least £7m after learning they have qualified automatically for the Champions League, are only likely to make a firm move, if any, for Juninho when the August 31 deadline for transfers is a little nearer. At 31, a £3.8m buy two years ago from Atletico Madrid, Celtic would only be willing to pay around £1m for the South American. And Juninho, who is keen to fight for a place on Teesside, insisted yesterday that his future lay firmly in the manager's hands.

Boro boss Steve McClaren, who could have Geremi and Bolo Zenden on board by the end of the week from Chelsea, has added Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink, Mark Viduka and Michael Reiziger to his squad already.

The arrivals of Hasselbaink and Viduka in particular increased the speculation regarding Juninho's future. Juninho said: "I am a Middlesbrough player and everybody knows I want to play for this club. The only way I would leave would be if the management wanted me to. I haven't come this far with Middlesbrough and now want to leave."

Boro midfielder Jonathan Greening is on the verge of becoming the first summer casualty of McClaren's squad building.

The 25-year-old, the club's player of the year in 2002-03, is due at Premiership newcomers West Bromwich Albion today for talks after the two clubs agreed a fee - believed to be £1m, which could rise. Baggies boss Gary Megson sees Greening as the man to play alongside Jason Koumas in a four-man midfield as the Hawthorns outfit aim to avoid relegation.

Greening, bought from Manchester United three years ago, struggled for regular football last season at the Riverside Stadium.

Read more about Middlesbrough here.