Rivaldo set for lucrative Qatar deal

Rivaldo gave Bolton Wanderers a new, and probably final, snub as he flew off for talks with a club in Qatar yesterday.

Rivaldo gave Bolton Wanderers a new, and probably final, snub as he flew off for talks with a club in Qatar yesterday.

The Brazilian ignored requests to come to England to clarify his long-running transfer negotiations and headed to the Middle East instead. Bolton officials discovered that their target had checked into the Ritz Carlton in Qatar ahead of talks with a local team about a £1.5m one-year contract.

It has been suggested that Rivaldo is going for the option of easy money - crucially his offer at Bolton was related to appearances, but would have been worth more than the Qatar offer if he had played the requisite number of games. His advisors' excuse that he "did not want his reputation to be harmed" if Bolton did not have a good season will not be appreciated at Wanderers.

Another option had been an approach from Celtic, but the 32-year-old's agent, Carlos Arime, has described Martin O'Neill's trial offer during the club's tour of the USA as an "insult". Arime said: "That is an insult to my client and to football. People will be crying tears of laughter when they hear Celtic wanted to take Rivaldo on trial."