The Rangers Football Club

Barry Ferguson has today signed for Birminham City in a £1M deal to reunite him with former Rangers manager Alex McLiesh.

The 31-year-old midfielder has returned to the Premiership some five years after a short stint at Blackburn between 2003 and 2004.

Ferguson completed his medical last night in the Birmingham and his agent, John Viola, sealed the deal on personal terms  at lunchtime today.

Ferguson has signed a two-year contract with the option for a further year. He will be reunited with Alex McLeish at Birmingham, along with former Scotland team-mates James McFadden and Garry O’Connor.

There had been the option of moving to West Brom and there was further Premiership interest when it became clear that Ferguson was being allowed to move on by the Ibrox club.

But he was sold on the move with the chance to work with McLeish again, and will make his competitve debut against Manchester United at Old Trafford on August 16.

Ferguson had one year left on a lucrative £25,000-a-week deal at Rangers. But all parties concerned felt it was better for him to move on after the infamous Scotland boozegate fiasco which saw him banished by his country and stripped of the Rangers captaincy last April.

And former team-mate Nacho Novo, a close friend of the midfielder, was sorry to see Ferguson go and believes that Rangers are losing a “legend.”

“He is one of the best players I have ever played with,” said the Spaniard.

“He is a great person, a hard worker and he helped everybody at the club. We will miss him.”

And Novo has set his sights on making serious inroads into Walter Smith’s first team this term after a stop-start campaign last time out.

“I have one more year on my contract,” he said. “I love Rangers. The club are in my heart and this year I want to work hard to be in the team.”

Alistair Gourlay 14/07/09

During the summer we have become accustomed to seeing players come and go since the first transfer window was introduced in 2002. Walter Smith recently stated that every Rangers player is available should the right offer come in, but what is the right offer?

Charlie Adam’s value was eventually agreed to be £500,000, a small sum compared with the transfers we regularly see south of the border for players who seem far less talented.

That said for a 23 year old who doesn’t look like he’ll be breaking into the first team anytime soon some could say it was a good deal especially as he will be on larger wages than alot of the players he would be competing the left midfield spot for.

Other players who are likely to generate a bit of interest value might be a bit more difficult to decipher ;

Allan McGregor - After his childish antics in a dark blue jersey rather than a royal blue he was benched and never player again inthe season. During his spell on the bench Rangers went on an unbeaten run which lead to winning the League and Scottish Cup Double.

Last summer he was linked with a move to the premiership with a value of £6m now we would be lucky to get half that. A bid of £2m would likely see the talented keeper move to the Premiership and would be great bit of business for any English club.

Majid Bougherra – The fans player of the year was excellent last year, taking the step up from Charlton with ease. He helped erase the pain of Cueller joining O’Neil at Aston Villa and is another great defensive find by Walter Smith. Signed for around £2m his valuation has at least tripled since joining Rangers.

He has not had the chance to showcase his talents in Europe yet, it is unlikely that any club shall meet this valuation. If he has a similar season and does well in the Champions League then expect him to leave next summer with an even bigger price tag.

Kirk Broadfoot – Has a cult following around Ibrox due to his determination and extra effort he has made to stake his claim in the team. Had a great start to last season, capped off with a Scotland cap and a winning goal against Iceland.

Despite this he is simply not good enough and never will be, a concrete bid of £500,000 would be more than tempting.

Pedro Mendes – Flashes of brilliance throughout the season has made the veteran midfielder a firm favourite at Ibrox. His vision and first touch passing is an outstanding talent which no-one else in the league comes close.

Unfortunately inconsistency has had critics saying he can’t perform outside Ibrox, this despite having scored all four of his goals for Rangers away from home.

At 30 it would be likely that a recoup on the £3.5m paid for him last summer would see him leave.

Steven Davis – Steve Bruce has already declared interest in the Northern Ireland captain. An offer of £5m will be likely to come in before the window ends and seems good money for a player bought for £3.5m just one year ago.

At 24 Davis is a player who a team can be built around, clearly happy at Rangers it would be a huge mistake to let him leave for a profit of £1.5m

Barry Ferguson – Not a lot hasn’t been said about the controversial star. Stripped of captaincy and benched after his involvement with McGregor in the Scotland squad his time at Rangers looked to be at an end.

Came back into the team for the final few games of the season and everything went back up into the air. Still the best footballer at Ibrox his influence in the team seemed to diminish by the game last season.

Bids will be listened to and considering he only has 1 year left on his contract £1m will be an adequate amount releasing large wages also. If he does go then be prepared for him to prove a few people wrong at his new club.

DaMarcus Beasley – The guy described so often as ‘not suitable for the Scottish game’ when in reality this is not the fault of Beasley but that of the thugs who are allowed by incompetent referees to bully the American.

I’ve lost count at the amount of times the 27 year old has beaten a full back for pace only to be assaulted then booed by the morons following the opposition.

At £700,000 he really should have been a bargain but now he must be sick of our backward football and a return to mainland Europe will be the answer.

Kris Boyd – We already know his value due to the accepted £3m bid mid season from Birmingham. Would potential Premiership football be enough of a temptation to move him away from his home?

Would a more mobile forward line mean better football and even more goals for Rangers? All this remains to be seen but love him or hate him he will score goals.

There are other players who might interest potential buyers and we can hope that guaranteed Champions League cash flow means that no player has to leave without an above average bid. For us to bring in the desired centre half we must sell first.

Barney Gumble

HERMANN HREIDARSSON last night told Walter Smith: I can be a Champions League star for you.

The Iceland defender broke his silence to confirm he is interested in quitting Portsmouth for Ibrox.

The 34-year-old insists Gers haven’t yet tabled an offer and that in any event he’s waiting to hear who the new Pompey boss is and what he’s got to say.

But with the clock ticking on his career the veteran, who’s won 54 caps, admits he’s captivated by the lure of the Champions League.

He said: “I would be interested but as yet nothing’s been offered – as least nothing concrete.

“I’m still waiting on Portsmouth to appoint a new manager. I will have a word with him and see what he’s got to say. But I would look upon the Scottish League as a good, new challenge for me.

“Rangers would be a good club for any player to move to especially when they have the Champions League coming up next season.”