Figueroa not for me - McLeish

Rangers manager Alex McLeish has defended the club’s decision to pull out of a deal to sign Argentinian striker Luciano Figueroa.

The Scottish champions had been close to signing the Rosario player but decided not to go through with it at the last minute.

That provoked a barrage of criticism from American agent Eric Manasse and the player’s father but McLeish insisted the Gers had done nothing wrong.

He said: “Everybody has had something to say about this but we were customers in the deal.

“As a customer, until it is signed , sealed and delivered we have the right to walk off. I feel sorry for Figueroa because I met him and said I looked forward to working with him.

“But in the end it just didn’t happen. That’s life and that’s football.”

McLeish knows he must make more signings before the new campaign starts to add to new recruits Nuno Capucho and Zurab Khizanishvili.

McLeish sees Capucho as a replacement for Claudio Caniggia but with Lorenzo Amoruso, Arthur Numan, Bert Konterman, Jerome Bonnissel and Dan Eggen all having departed in the summer he knows he is light in defence.

Trialists Emerson Thome and David May are to travel with the team to Germany on Monday but only one is likely to be offered a contract.

The transfer of Mikel Arteta to Atletico Madrid remains stalled and McLeish admitted he was considering accepting Bosnia defender Mirsad Hibic as a makeweight.

But the problem with Hibic is that the Rangers boss simply does not know enough about the player.

He said: “I have seen Hibic playing for Bosnia against Denmark in Copenhagen two months ago.

“He did well against Ebbe Sand and Jon Dahl Tomasson but that was just one sighting of him. I know Atletico have leaked goals although I don’t know if it was down to him. I need to see more of Hibic.”

Arteta is also due to take part in the nine-day trip to Germany.