O'Leary's successor still on hold

"Since then I have been very pleasantly surprised to have received at least three calls from candidates we had not even considered.

"The quality of some of these candidates is such that we did not think they would be remotely interested in the vacancy.

"I have been talking to board members again and we will continue to make sure we get the best possible candidate for the football club.

"All I can say is that we have not made any final decision yet and have not approached any club."

Leeds' new boss will have to address a re-shuffle of the squad after O'Leary's massive spending, with England defender Rio Ferdinand's future high on the agenda.

Some bookmakers have stopped taking bets on O'Neill moving to Elland Road, and the Celtic boss issued a carefully worded statement after returning from the World Cup.

He told www.celticfc.net: "I have just come back from Japan amidst much speculation about my future.

"I have had a chat with our chief executive, Ian McLeod, about a number of things, as you would expect, and I understand from him that there has been no approach from Leeds, or any other club for that matter, so the speculation continues to be simply that.

"We have just completed the first day of training and I am back to work with the staff and players.

"We are all looking forward to the start of the season and our Champions League qualification tie."