Premiership move likely for sidelined Rangers captain

DEPOSED Rangers captain Barry Ferguson could be in the sights of a number of Barclays Premiership clubs following his fall-out with Ibrox manager Paul Le Guen.

Ferguson was removed from the captaincy and dropped by Le Guen for yesterday’s Bank of Scotland Premier League clash with Motherwell after the pair had a disagreement.

The 28-year-old is known to want to stay at Rangers but the former Blackburn player may struggle to get back into Le Guen’s plans after the Frenchman claimed his authority was undermined.

Unless the Govan club choose to change their manager, Ferguson may decide to look elsewhere and it is thought a loan deal until the end of the season could be possible. Everton are thought to be one of a number of clubs monitoring the situation.

Watford manager Adrian Boothroyd fears he may now struggle to hold onto midfielder Ashley Young after rejecting a £5million bid for the England Under-21 international.

Boothroyd has also turned down two other offers for Young, who has been the outstanding outfield player of the Hornets first season back in the top flight.

“I have had three Premiership clubs on the phone making verbal bids for Ashley Young, but I have turned them all down,” said Boothroyd.

“As it stands today, I absolutely do not see him leaving the club this month.

“But tomorrow, Ashley might come up to me and say, ‘I’ve had enough’. But he is not daft, and he knows this is the best place for him to be.

“If and when the time is right, and he wants to go, he will go. But the price has to be right, and it has to mean the club will be improved.”

Wigan manager Paul Jewell hopes to know before the end of the week if a deal can be agreed with West Brom to bring striker Nathan Ellington back to the JJB Stadium.

The Latics tabled a bid believed to be around £2million on New Year’s Eve, but the Baggies are thought to be holding out for around £3million for the 25-year-old.

Ellington scored 67 goals in three seasons with Wigan to help them into the Premiership but left in the summer of 2005 after failing to agree a new contract.

“We will see what happens in the next 48 hours, but I do expect some sort of outcome one way or another,” the player’s agent Tony Finnigan told www.skysports.com.

Blackburn have received offers for Australian defender Lucas Neill, according to his agent Peter Harrison.

Liverpool had an approach for the 28-year-old rebuffed in the summer and he has been linked with a number of other clubs since.

Neill is thought to want to leave Ewood Park and Harrison told www.skysports.com: “We know there have been bids put in for him. There is a lot of interest from England and abroad.”

Former Chelsea striker Tore Andre Flo is back in English football after agreeing a deal to link up with former Blues team-mate Dennis Wise at Coca-Cola Championship strugglers Leeds.

The 33-year-old, who cost £12.5million when he moved from Chelsea to Rangers in 2001, has joined the Elland Road outfit from Valerenga until the end of the season.

On a busy day for Leeds, the club have also offered short-term deals to Tresor Kandol, who was on loan from Barnet, and Espanyol defender Armando Miguel Correia De Sa, subject to international clearance.