Kris Boyd's future as a Rangers player again came under scrutiny yesterday when the Ibrox club turned down an offer of more than £2 million from Cardiff City. A terse statement on the Rangers website read: "We have received a bid for striker Kris Boyd, which we rejected."
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However, rather than a declaration of intent to keep the player, the meaning is most likely to be that Rangers are willing to let Boyd go, but only at a price of £3 million plus, given his consistent strike rate.
Walter Smith has a glut of strikers after he acquired three forwards - Kenny Miller, Andrius Velicka and most recently, Kyle Lafferty. Jean-Claude Darcheville is still on the books, Nacho Novo signed a contract extension last season and Daniel Cousin may have dropped off Fulham's radar, after his £2.5?million transfer to Craven Cottage fell foul of Fifa regulations last season.
Lafferty, meanwhile, spoke yesterday about his pleasure at moving to the club he followed as a boy. "The move has been a long time in coming and I'm thrilled to be at the club at last. When I heard Rangers were looking at me, I really wanted to join them but there was a point when I thought they had lost interest," the Northern Ireland international said.
"I heard nothing from them so I was worried the move wouldn't happen and I was delighted when my agent rang me to say Burnley had accepted the bid for me.
"Hopefully I can now show the fans what I can do on the pitch. All of my mates and family are big Rangers fans so they're pleased I'm at the club now. Playing in Europe is a big attraction for me."
