Alasdair Strokosch snubs return to the capital in favour of staying at Gloucester

EDINBURGH have missed out on a bid to re-sign Alasdair Strokosch after the Scotland flanker turned down their advances to remain at Gloucester for another two years.

Strokosch and Scott Lawson, the former Glasgow hooker, have both signed two-year deals this week and could yet be joined by more Scots with Bryan Redpath, the club's Scottish coach, interested in taking one or more of the current Glasgow back row – Johnnie Beattie, John Barclay and Kelly Brown – to Kingsholm.

All three are out of contract at the end of this season, as are Edinburgh's capped back rows Ross Rennie, Dave Callam and Allister Hogg, as well as Simon Cross, which has made for a nervy time for the pro team coaches Rob Moffat at Edinburgh and Glasgow's Sean Lineen. Compounding their difficulties in keeping burgeoning squads together is a budget cut imposed on both by the SRU, and Gordon McKie, the SRU chief executive, said yesterday he thought it would be "very unlikely" that Glasgow and Edinburgh would keep all the players they were attempting to.

On the bid for Strokosch, Moffat said: "We have a lot happening in the back row at Edinburgh and a lot of quality, but we have a few players out of contract at the end of the season. There are so many variables, so much speculation about players just now, that I did try and bring Alasdair in. When you look a player of Alasdair's quality and the way he plays, the way he leads, he would be a good asset to our squad. But he has made his decision to stay at Gloucester and we respect that."

Glasgow, the Magners League leaders, had better news to report yesterday, with prop Moray Low signing a two-year deal to remain at Firhill. A Scotland debutant in 2009, Low said: "I'm delighted to have re-signed with Glasgow because it's a great club and good for my development as a player. I believe the more of the young players we can keep here the better so I'm happy to have made sure my future is in a Glasgow jersey."

It is understood that young stand-off Ruaridh Jackson has agreed a similar deal, but Glasgow officials stated that nothing was yet signed, while the young loosehead prop Jon Welsh has also aroused interest outside Scotland and no new deal has been agreed to keep him in his home city.

McKie said: "We have a number of discussions on the go right now and it's very unlikely that everybody will stay. I am a realist and we're going into a 12-month period with a lot of sponsorships coming to an end – we don't have a sponsor for the November Tests nor a broadcaster yet, which is huge – so we have to cut our cloth alongside those realities.

"Every year we have 36 players on average out of contract and this year the market is very challenging, and not just for us. English clubs have got very great pressure on their playing budgets as well.

"Scottish rugby may not always be the highest payer, but we look after our players in terms of rehabilitation, a willingness to rotate and ensure they are fit and able to perform for Scotland, and of course the proximity to Andy Robinson (Scotland coach]. It's not always about money.

"But it's not necessarily a bad thing if a player leaves Scotland either. It's about what's best for the player and for some players it might be better moving on."