Hot off the Press

[Danny 9]

As the transfer window draws torturously to a close, speculation has spread like wildfire as to who Rangers will have officially captured by 12am on February 1st.

Having already obtained former Hibernian captain Kevin Thomson for £2M the previous day, attention turned to other hard targets linked to the Ibrox club. The main name on everyone’s lips was Paul Hartley, and it had looked like the transfer saga involving Hearts’ vice-captain and a potential move to Rangers was going to go right to the wire, only for Old Firm rivals Celtic to step in and hijack the move right from under their rivals’ noses.

Having started their bid at £600,000, steady increases to £750,000 then £800,000 had failed to persuade Hearts to let him go, leaving the door ajar for Celtic to add their muscle with a straight £1.1M bid. This had been deemed satisfactory, and having agreed all the details, only a medical and paperwork stands between Celtic signing the midfielder.

The motivation for Celtic’s involvement could be construed as payback in light of Rangers thieving Thomson from them the previous day, as it is clear the Parkhead club’s midfield is really rather strong. Nevertheless, Rangers’ penny-pinching has pretty much been the cause of this loss, and they cannot blame anyone but themselves.

Other players on the radar include Gow, and McCulloch, with a new entrant in Motherwell’s McDonald.

Starting with the Falkirk forward Gow, Rangers have, again, been unsuccessful in multiple optimistic bids, and stand at a bid of something around £200,000 for the young Scot. Having stated they would not let him go for less than £500,000, Falkirk were unlikely to be seduced by less than half that sum.

The McCulloch situation is curious; one minute it is practically a done deal, the next he is off Rangers’ radar, before suddenly reappearing on it. A bid of £750,000 was deemed derisory by Wigan, and speculation has simmered on whether or not that signature will be pursued.

Lastly is McDonald, a late link. Motherwell reportedly received a £350,000 bid for the Australian, a well-regarded and useful player who is perhaps not quite the killer name the Ibrox legions were hoping for. It was rejected, with only an ‘astonishing’ bid being acceptable.

In the other direction, Buffel’s proposed move to Hannover collapsed when personal arrangements could not be finalised. Having been given permission to talk to the Budesliga side, it would stand to reason Smith was letting Buffel go as he did not consider him a long term player for the club. So with the move breaking down, the question is raised of Buffel’s role at Ibrox.

Letizi has also definitely gone, the contract with the Frenchman cancelled by mutual consent. Furthermore are stories linking Rae with a move elsewhere as well.

The next few hours could be very interesting…

http://rangersmedia.blogspot.com/