Duffy unhappy at Rangers swoop

Dundee manager Jim Duffy is unhappy Rangers have held talks with Zurab Khizanishvili behind his back.

The Georgian defender has been lined up as Lorenzo Amoruso’s replacement should the Italian be sold in the next few weeks.

That is looking likely as the Italian bade a tearful farewell to the fans after heading the only goal of the Tennent’s Scottish Cup final against Dundee.

Khizanishvili was one of his side’s better players on the day and is soon to be out of contract at Dens Park.

Dundee will still get a fee as he is under 24 but Duffy made it clear he would have liked to have negotiated personally with Rangers.

Instead, the size of the compensation is set to be decided by a tribunal and is likely to be a fraction of his value had he been under contract.

Duffy said: “If it is Rangers, I would have liked some form of contact from the club. There hasn’t been any and maybe that’s because they haven’t officially contacted him.

“But I know because the player is very honest and I get on great with him that he has had three or four offers, Rangers being one of them.

“I would have liked someone to have picked up the phone and said ‘what are you looking for?’

“But football is a cut-throat business and if they can get a player like him for the type of money they will have to pay then that is one of the bargains of the century.

“He’s as good as any. He’s 21, playing against international players, he’s made some great tackles, he comes through with the ball and is composed.

“For me, he is magnificent and as good a young player as I have seen in a long, long time.”

The Georgian’s rapid progress had been halted for a number of months when he suffered a serious knee injury.

Duffy added: “It took him a while. He was wanting to rush back when I first came so we had to hold him back a little bit.

“But from December he has been outstanding. He is a complete footballer. He can play right-back, centre-back and midfield.”

Khizanishvili confirmed he would be moving on in the summer but was not saying whether it would be to Rangers.

He said: “Of course it is so disappointing to lose out (in the cup final), and for me personally, now that my contract is up I would like to thank everyone at Dundee for my time here, but at this stage I don’t know what is happening.

“My agent has spoken to Rangers, but nothing is clear right now, so we will just have to wait and see.”