MILLIONAIRE financier Ian Currie has quit as a director of Bolton Wanderers claiming to have had an offer to invest £5 million snubbed by the club's hierarchy.

The Manchester-based businessman resigned at the weekend, claiming his offer of cash for manager Sam Allardyce to buy players was rejected by the club's major shareholder, Eddie Davies, and chairman, Phil Gartside on Saturday evening.

Mr Gartside refuted the claim today, when he said: "He made no offer to the club, myself or to Eddie Davies. He did not make it known to me that he was interested in making a further investment and he is fully aware of our strategy and knows that any new money invested would first have to be put towards reducing our debts."

Mr Currie, a self-confessed Blackpool fan, who joined the Wanderers' board in March 2000, says he put his proposal to Mr Davies during the half-time interval of Saturday's home game against Birmingham, saying he was willing to invest a "substantial sum".

But when he spoke to the chairman after the match, he said he felt he was not wanted. "Mr Gartside said there was an issue with my involvement with Leeds United, a club I had wanted to invest in earlier this year," he said. "I asked him if he wanted me to go and he said he did and so did Mr Davies. I will now walk away from Bolton.

"A £5 million investment, which I was willing to make, would have been good for Bolton Wanderers and I feel I have been good for the club over the past five years. I introduced Jay Jay Okocha to Bolton.

"I put my resignation in writing and posted it on Monday night. They have now had more than 48 hours since I verbally gave notice and I have had no contact with the club since.

"I have also had telephone calls from a number of other clubs willing to talk to me about investments.

"I've enjoyed my time in Bolton. When I joined the Wanderers it was at a time when I was thinking of putting in an offer to buy Blackpool Football Club but Mr Gartside called me and asked me to invest in Bolton instead, so I said ok."

Mr Gartside refuted Mr Currie's claim to have introduced Okocha to Wanderers, adding: "Issues other than his failed attempt to re-finance Leeds United have precipitated his resignation; issues that I intend to keep private more for his benefit than the club's. I did not ask for his resignation, he asked me if I wanted him "to go" and I accepted his request taking it as his resignation."

As chairman, Mr Gartside has seen the club rise from the lower reaches of the old First Division to the top half of the Premiership since his appointment in October 1999 and is proud of how Wanderers run their business.

"Our management record over the past few years speaks for itself." he added. We have developed a very successful football and business model for the club, and one which has the full support of our major shareholder Eddie Davies and team manager Sam Allardyce. It is also a model that is widely admired by others in football, including many in the Premier League. We are justifiably proud of how we manage the club and see no reason whatsoever to change things.

"I am both surprised and very disappointed that Mr Currie has chosen to take this very private matter public. We pride ourselves on our professional approach to business and we never wash our dirty linen in public.

"Mr Currie is fully aware of our approach, which makes his press comment difficult to understand."