By Dan Stewart
CLAUDIO CANIGGIA will be a sensation in Scottish football, his countryman and former clubmate Beto Carranza believes.

Argentinian internationalist Carranza signed a one-year deal with Dundee on Friday and is set to be joined at Dens this week by Caniggia, the blond-haired veteran of two World Cup finals. That's a prospect which has Dark Blues fans- many of whom can remember only too well the mid-90s embarrassment of reading how their club had bartered a set of tracksuits for a defender from the Fife Junior leagues-positively drooling in anticipation.

Having played alongside the striker at Boca Juniors, Carranza is convinced he will turn out to be everything they are hoping for-and more. "Claudio is an incredible player, as skilful a footballer as I have ever seen," he said. "He has fantastic technique and is a very clever man for he uses his brain to hurt opposition teams as much as he uses his feet.

"I have no doubt that he will make a huge impact in Scotland because I have no doubt that he would make a huge impact anywhere in the world. The supporters will enjoy him for he is a real personality and, as a Dundee player now, I am very excited about the prospect of him joining us."

While fans should be treated to the sight of Caniggia posing in a Dark Blue jersey some time in the next 72 hours, Saturday's international card means his debut won't come until the Aberdeen game on October 14.

The Pittodrie fixture will also see the introduction of Carranza, the 28-year-old midfielder who Racing Club scouts once rated a better prospect than Lazio ace Claudio Lopez.

Carranza was denied the chance to play against Kilmarnock on Saturday by the Argentinian FA's tardiness in processing his international clearance.

Whether or not his presence would have helped Dundee achieve a better result than the goal-less draw they got will never be known.

But there was little doubt that his non-appearance contributed to a collective feeling of anti-climax amongst the crowd of over 6000 who had turned up at Dens Park.

"I was very disappointed because I had wanted so much to play for the team," said Carranza. "There is a real family spirit here, that is why I joined Dundee, and you want to contribute by doing what you can on the pitch.

"The team impressed me with their performance for they did well to survive the loss of a player with a clean sheet."

Lee Wilkie was the man who got the early bath. A "last man" tackle on Killie substitute Craig Dargo prompted referee Bobby Orr to give him his fourth red card within the space of a year.

The precocious defender has made a huge effort to improve his discipline on the park this season and he was clearly distraught as he left the pitch.

His dismissal means he will have to spend more time on the sidelines, but at least he had the consolation of knowing he has not also fallen foul of the club's new disciplinary code. "It was a foul yes, but a foul of the kind any defender can make," said Dundee manager Ivano Bonetti.

"Whether of not he had to go was down to the referee's interpretation of the situation and he made his decision. Lee is a young boy of good character and I am sure he will cope with this setback." Wilkie's progress has been closely monitored this season by several top English clubs including Leeds United, Spurs and Wolves, and on Saturday, Newcastle United took the chance to have chief scout Tommy Craig watch him play.

Dundee have made it clear that they are happy to let him to go provided the price is right-and that price is well in excess of £1 million.

His transfer would represent an excellent bit of business for the Dens club, not least because of the repercussions of Bosman II, and a timely one with the club's wage bill spiralling ever higher as more and more quality continentals are recruited.

"We are taking a big, big gamble this season, and the fact is that we will certainly need to sell some players to survive," said owner Peter Marr in a radio interview before the game. "Bringing in exciting new talent has led to increased gate receipts, more television money and the chance of new sponsorship deals. "But they will not be enough to balance the books."

While for financial reasons Wilkie would be the deal they would most like to cut, there can be little doubt now that they are now also extremely keen to see the back of Steven Boyack who irked Marr with televised claims that Bonetti had given him only 20 seconds of his time since putting him on the transfer list.

"Ivano wanted to give Steven individual tuition but he thought he was too good a player for that," he said.

"Wigan want to sign him, other English clubs want to take him on trial but no, he is too good for that too.

"We had Carranza, a full Argentinian internationalist, across with us for a two-week trial. Georgi Nemsadze, the Georgian captain, went to Hibs for three weeks on trial but Steven Boyack is too good to go and prove himself.

"Other players such as Hugh Robertson reacted to the news that they were up for transfer by saying, 'No, I just want to stay,' and battling their way into the manager's plans.

"But Steven just turned and walked straight out the club."

It is clearly not a happy state of affairs and, provided a club come up with a modest amount of money , it will be no surprise to see Boyack heading out the very same door that Claudio Cannigia is walking through.

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