Ally McCoist, the Rangers manager, will have talks with owner Craig Whyte to see if there is the money to complete a move for St Johnstone striker Francisco Sandaza.
The 27-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and Rangers may try to secure him on a pre-contract agreement so that he comes for nothing in the summer. But they would need to meet St Johnstone's asking price of around £300,000 if they want to get him immediately. St Johnstone have been told that Rangers have approached the Spaniard, which they are entitled to do because he is in the last six months of his deal.
"I will need to have a wee chat and regroup with Craig and see where we are," said McCoist after Rangers' 4-0 William Hill Scottish Cup win at Arbroath yesterday. "He's one of a number of players, certainly forwards, that I am really, really interested in."
Nikica Jelavic and David Healy scored at Gayfield but Rangers are desperately short of attacking options. Steven Naismith and Kyle Lafferty are injured and Jelavic could be sold at any time to raise much-needed funds. Jelavic, linked with Liverpool, Aston Villa and Queens Park Rangers – who last night sacked manager Neil Warnock – among others, at the weekend acknowledged his situation in a Croatian sports magazine.
"It's normal I am attracted to go to England, I have dreamed about playing there for years," he said. "My goal is a club with a serious ambition of playing in the Champions League. That is my main motivation. It is true the club [Rangers] is in deep financial trouble. Rangers have a debt of €50m and have several ways of reducing the debt. If they sold me it would help to get rid of the debt they have accumulated for years. There was talk about bankruptcy. Nobody at the club has told me I must leave, though. I still have a contract with Rangers for another two and half years. It's for the owners to decide what will happen. But, as far as I know, the club must repay its debts by a certain deadline. If I had to pick a city to go to, it would be London – a very interesting city."
McCoist said Allan McGregor is an essential part of Rangers' future despite reports that La Liga club Malaga have watched him and could make a bid. "Allan is a massive, massive part of our plans and I certainly don't welcome any bids for Allan."
One Rangers player who has been the subject of a bid, Maurice Edu, spoke for the first time of the unsuccessful £500,000 offer for him by French club Sochaux. "It's flattering to be linked with good teams, have teams showing interest," said the midfielder. "But I leave it up to them [Rangers] to take care of and just worry about playing. I'm enjoying myself, the team's winning and I feel I've contributed to that."
But he was noncommittal about McCoist's enthusiasm for giving him a contract extension. "It's always nice when the staff and the manager are pleased with the way you're playing and the contribution you're making. I'm leaving it to my representative. I'm just enjoying my football right now, I still have 18 months to go."
Rangers will be in the draw for the Scottish Cup fifth round, which will be made by Andre Villas-Boas and Marcello Lippi at Hampden, after dealing easily with Irn-Bru Division Two side Arbroath. "It was a really professional performance," said McCoist. "The result was all that mattered. I thought the attitude was first class and we ran out deserved winners. Healy and Jelavic did really well because the big boys at the back for Arbroath were really solid competitors and they put themselves about. We created an awful lot of chances and to score four was really pleasing."
He had special praise for Algerian Salim Kerkar, making his fourth appearance, and scoring his first goal. "I was delighted for Salim. He's a smashing lad and he's waited a long time for his chance. It's wonderful to see the relationship he has with the fans."
Rangers are optimistic that knocks suffered by Edu and Kyle Bartley will prove to be minor when they are assessed today.
Arbroath player-manager Paul Sheerin had no complaints about his side's loss. "Until the first goal, we matched them. But Rangers were well worth their win, they were far superior. We don't defend great at the best of times so I thought we'd have a go at them. I'm glad it's out of the way because it's been a bit of a hindrance to our league form. We have to get back to what we want to do, which is win the title in the second division."
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