ALLY McCoist demanded answers from senior figures at Rangers after a claim that the club was trying to sell Maurice Edu behind his back.
The president of Sochaux said Rangers had encouraged his club to make a renewed bid for Edu after their first two offers were turned down. McCoist had previously said that he did not want to lose any player and had not been told he had to sell, so reports that others at the club might be trying to raise money by touting a member of his team suggested a major conflict of interest within Ibrox.
McCoist did not reveal whether it was owner Craig Whyte, director of football Gordon Smith or some other senior figure he went to for reassurances, but he said the answers he received had convinced him that no-one had been trying to undermine him or tout Edu without his knowledge. "I obviously enquired about that," he said. "That's not the case. I've been told that's not the case – and of course it can't be the case."
Still, Sochaux's claim came after it was reported that an English agent had been given a mandate by Rangers to sell Nikica Jelavic for up to £10m. McCoist admitted "it would probably help" if Rangers sold a player to generate that kind of money this month, but he repeated he did not have to sell before he could buy.
"There was a second bid for Maurice rejected on Thursday, which I was very pleased to hear. I don't think we can afford to lose a midfielder like Edu. I'm aware of the financial restraints, but, like every other manager, I don't want to let our better players go. I talked to Maurice about it on Thursday and he is completely settled. He's really happy here. I can assure you of that."
Francisco Sandaza, the St Johnstone striker, has been offered a pre-contract agreement to join Rangers at the end of this season, but last night it emerged that he has turned that down and wants to keep his options open. That may force Rangers to meet the Perth club's £300,000 asking price to try to make a deal happen this month. Sandaza will face Rangers today.
McCoist said yesterday: "Sandaza's agent is back in Spain after a trans-Atlantic flight, so I've not had a chance to catch up with him, but I've told Steve Lomas we intend to offer him a pre-contract, which we have done. The agent said he'll be talking to the player after the game."
Enar Jaager, the Estonian internationalist, is due to join Rangers on Monday for a week-long trial. Rangers are short of options at right-back while Steven Whittaker and Kirk Broadfoot are injured and 27-year-old Jaager, a free agent after leaving the Norwegian club Aalesunds, is vastly experienced with 84 caps. "He comes highly recommended from a couple of our contacts. The lad is happy to come here and that says a lot."
Rangers have been considering an offer for Mervan Celik, a Swedish winger for a number of weeks. Celik, 21, is another free agent having left the Gothenburg club GAIS although Rangers would have to pay a fee of around £200,000 to compensate the Swedes for his youth development."We have been looking at Mervan for a number of weeks. He is a player we would like to come in. We've been in contact with the player and his agent. Although we're some way off from agreeing terms, he's definitely a player the staff here have been impressed with."
McCoist will attempt to have talks with Javi Guerra's agent this weekend with a view to progressing his interest in the Real Valladolid striker. There was still a bit of work to be done in that respect, he said, although he questioned the reported fee of £2.5m for the 29-year-old. "I'd hope he wouldn't cost that amount but I don't know."
Rangers won't pursue their interest in signing Arsenal's teenage striker Benik Afobe on loan because he is not fit enough to play immediately.
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