Darlington left furious as Asprilla flies away

The Darlington chairman George Reynolds has attacked Faustino Asprilla after the Colombian international turned his back on the Third Division club. The former Newcastle and Parma striker had agreed a deal to return to England, and the Quakers secured a work permit for him on appeal. However, Reynolds said Asprilla had stalled over undertaking a routine medical on Thursday and then flown out of the country early yesterday, believed to be heading for the Middle East.

"I feel absolutely gutted," Reynolds said. "I have put seven hard weeks into this and went to tremendous expense. At 11.40pm last night I received information that some club in the Middle East had offered Tino a better deal. He reneged on the deal with us."

Reynolds claimed Asprilla had been more than happy with the package he would have received, which included a weekly wage of around £17,000. He said: "There was no dispute whatsoever about money. Nobody in the First, Second of Third Divisions could have competed with it. Everything was agreed before he flew in from Colombia."

Asprilla was paraded in front of 5,163 fans before Darlington's 2-0 win over Carlisle United at Feethams on Tuesday.

"His U-turn has left everyone at the club with a sour taste in their mouths," Reynolds said. "I feel as if I must apologise for the bad behaviour of Tino Asprilla and make it quite clear that he did a runner at five this morning from Newcastle Airport to London, without even having the decency to ring the manager or myself or the club."