Fulham manager Chris Coleman – his former international team-mate – was said to be keen to recruit him, especially if star striker Louis Saha leaves the London club.

Birmingham, Middlesbrough, Tottenham and Newcastle have also been linked with the former Arsenal man.

Reports have suggested that Celtic might also be willing to cash in on a forward who had a back operation in the summer and has netted only nine times this season.

But Jonathan Barnett, Hartson’s agent, insisted that the 28-year-old was likely to stay put.

He said: “It’s all rubbish – he’s fine and my understanding is that Celtic want to keep him.”

Hartson has never stayed long at one club however. He began as a trainee at Luton before Arsenal paid £2.5m (€3.6m) for him in 1995. He was at Highbury for just over two years before moving to West Ham for a similar length of time.

A £7.5m (€10.8m) fee saw him move across London to Wimbledon in January 1999 and, after a short spell at Coventry, he moved to Celtic in August 2001.

That £6m (€8.6m) switch had been completed after a move to Rangers two months earlier had collapsed when the Ibrox side insisted he was not fit to take a medical.

His spell in Scottish football has been successful although he missed last season’s UEFA Cup final defeat by Porto because of the back problem.