SAM Allardyce has followed up his capture of Gary Speed by increasing his bid for Wolves' wantaway striker Henri Camara.

But the Midlands club, who have put a £5million valuation on the player, responded with a "Pay up or shut up" reaction.

And now the whole saga appears to have erupted into a war of words with Wolves accusing Bolton of 'scandalous behaviour'.

In Portugal today, Allardyce, fresh from the success of landing Welsh international captain, Speed, in a £750,000 transfer from Newcastle, signalled his determination to persuade Molineux chiefs to finally relax their grip on the Senegal international with hard cash.

Yet that does not seem to have persuaded the Molineux club to do business and the whole affair has reached a stalemate.

Details of the new bid have not been disclosed but reports suggest Wanderers have increased their initial offer of £2.5m to £2.75m, which was immediately rejected,

A source close to the club said feelings in the Midlands town were running high over the whole situation.

He said: "The fans think the club should hold out for the full £5m asking price for the player, and that has put a lot of pressure on the club.

"They don't want to be seen as backing down, but it could be that a halfway figure between what Bolton have offered, and what Wolves want - say around the £4million mark - may do the trick."

Wolves manager David Jones, however, speaking from Norway, where is club is on tour, reacted angrily.

He said: "Their chairman and manager have been told by me what an acceptable fee could be but they are still a million miles away.

"I don't know what they are playing at. They are just making the boy unsettled, and they keep upsetting him. I find Bolton's behaviour, and what they are doing, scandalous. They should stop messing around. The situation is becoming a bit annoying and now they should put up or shut up."

He told the club's official website: "They must think that by upping their offer the club will just accept it and let him go. But, the boy is our player and he will be our player." Camara is in dispute after having his transfer request turned down. His refusal to attend pre-season training and threat to strike until his transfer wish is granted, has brought a hard line response from his Molineux bosses, who have expressed their determination to "make a stand for football". They have threatened to ask FIFA to impose a worldwide ban on him playing for any club unless he co-operates.

Relations between the two clubs appeared at a low ebb last week, when Wolves' chief executive, Jez Moxey accused Wanderers of unsettling the player with the timing of their official bid, which they claim was faxed just an hour before a crucial meeting.

Wolves are now planning to meet the player and his agent on Friday for further talks.