29 December 2007

RANGERS must decide whether or not to pursue Aston Villa's Luke Moore - after seeing a Bosman move for the striker scuppered.

SportTimes can reveal that approaches were made months ago to the England Under-21 hitman about signing a pre-contract agreement for next summer.

Moore's development had been tracked by Ewan Chester when the Ibrox chief scout was was at Fulham. On his return to Rangers earlier this year, he recommended the player to Walter Smith.

The 21-year-old was extremely keen on a move to Glasgow. He is believed to have visited the city and also sounded out contacts about the SPL.
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Three weeks ago, Moore rejected a new contract offer from Villa boss Martin O'Neill, and then hoped to move into the final six months of his deal with his options open.

But, to the player's anger, O'Neill then activated Villa's option of extending his contract by a further year, to tie Moore to the club until the summer of 2009.

That ended any hopes of a Bosman move. And, although the player still wants to quit Villa Park in search of regular football, he is now tied for the next 18 months and therefore carries a decent transfer value.

Reports suggest Villa want £1.5m for a player who has made 93 first team appearances since his debut as a kid almost four years ago.

It remains to be seen if Rangers will pay that kind of cash. Smith has been given money to spend in January by chairman Sir David Murray, but has to prioritise with a left-back and a more experienced striker on the radar.

Should the likes of Daniel Cousin, Brahim Hemdani an a few others move on to free up more funds, Smith would have more flexibility.

But he is loathe to make more sweeping changes after a summer of massive turnaround, and would prefer to have three players in, with three or four going out.

Moore's agent, Steve Kutner, admitted the player feels it is time to seek a new challenge. He also confirmed the club's move to ringfence him by taking up the option.

"Luke rejected the new contract because he feels he needs to move on," he said.

"He needs to be playing first-team football at this stage of his career. He is 21 now and Luke has already proved he can do it in the Premier League. And yes, they have got him for another season now."

Villa boss O'Neill confirmed the club's stance over Moore and clearly believes they are right to protect their interests with the player set to quit for nothing.

"The decision to extend Luke's contract was our decision. There was talk about a new contract and negotiations went to and fro, but Luke has decided not to take the offer on board," he explained.

"There's no point saying the length of the contract (offered). But we have extended the existing one to 2009." Source - eveningtimes