Desailly has declined an offer from Celtic

35-year-old Desailly is a free agent after leaving Chelsea but rejected an offer to join the Scottish champions.

Yorke was in Glasgow for talks about a transfer from Blackburn Rovers but has opted to stay in England.

But a Celtic statement read: "We made a fantastic offer, but the lure of the Premiership was too much."

The 32-year-old former Trinidad & Tobago international, who has had a stormy recent relationship with Rovers manager Graeme Souness, could have completed Celtic's search for another quality striker.

Manager Martin O'Neill lost Henrik Larsson to Champions League opponents Barcelona at the end of his contract during the summer.

And Henri Camara has so far failed to impress during his loan spell from Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Yorke, previously with Aston Villa, joined Blackburn from United for �2m in 2002 and had a year of his contract to run.

But he has not found the net in his four appearances in the English Premiership this season and has lost his place to Scotland international Paul Dickov.

He came off the substitutes' bench for Rovers against former club Manchester United on Saturday.

O'Neill wanted another experienced defender ahead of the Champions League campaign and former France captain Desailly was approached.

Desailly, released by Chelsea after the arrival of Jose Mourinho as coach, was an integral part of French success at the 1998 World Cup and European Championship two years later but played just one game in Euro 2004.

Celtic were also been linked with Sunderland full-back Julio Arca, but the 23-year-old Argentine remained with the English Championship club.