Bolton give up on Bullard signing

Bolton will not be signing Fulham midfielder Jimmy Bullard or former Brazil star Denilson after manager Gary Megson ended his interest in both.

Bullard, 29, was the subject of a £5m bid from Bolton last week but this fell short of the Cottagers' valuation.

Meanwhile, Denilson had been training with Bolton in the hope of earning a contract at the Reebok Stadium.

Megson praised the 31-year-old's attitude but said he was not the type of player the team currently needed.

There had been suggestions that Denilson viewed his trial with Bolton as a way of advertising himself to other clubs.

However, Megson was extremely complimentary about a player who was once the most expensive signing in the world.

"It wasn't a trial, because that is a bit demeaning for a player of that class," said Megson.

"We have moved on"
Bolton boss Gary Megson on his pursuit of Fulham's Jimmy Bullard

"We got a call saying 'would we like to have a look at him?'. He wasn't fit, but his class and quality was there for all to see.

"But there are other parts of his game that we didn't feel we would be able to use to our advantage and would be able to complement everyone else.

"He mixed in with everyone else - and if anyone rang me up about giving him a reference he'd get nothing but positives."

Megson conceded that Bolton's bid for Bullard had been some way short of what Fulham valued their player at.

"I spoke to (Fulham chief executive) Alistair Mackintosh last week and got it from the horse's mouth what the position was," said Megson.

"I mentioned a figure to him, and he said it wouldn't be acceptable.

"There was no point on going any further because there was no common ground, and everything that is going around at the moment is untrue. We have moved on - that happened a week ago."

RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
Football on the BBC
Tim Vickery blog on Brazilian football
Bolton fans' views on 606
BBC Manchester sport
Bolton weather
BBC Sport Premier League
Bolton Wanderers
Fulham
Fulham weather
Fulham fans' views on 606
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites