Craig Levein says Kris Boyd will score goals in England, as Ibrox exit is confirmed

• Kris Boyd: Has scored 128 goals in 193 Rangers games. Picture: SNS

After Rangers manager Walter Smith conceded for the first time yesterday that the Ibrox club have lost out in their attempt to persuade Boyd to sign a new contract, Levein expressed his enthusiasm at the prospect of the striker plying his trade at the highest level of the English game.

Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Wigan, Wolves and Newcastle United have all been credited with an interest in the player who has scored 128 goals in 193 appearances for Rangers since joining them from Kilmarnock for 400,000 in January 2006.

Despite his remarkable statistics, Boyd is not short of detractors who point to his far less impressive strike rate for Rangers in both Old Firm and European fixtures. But Scotland manager Levein has no doubt the 26-year-old could further enhance his reputation as a deadly finisher in the Premier League.

"If he ends up in the Premier League, it will be brilliant," said Levein. "Kris is a goalscorer and if teams can get the ball into the box, he'll score. The goals and the penalty box are the same size everywhere so I don't think there is going to be any problem in regard to him finding the net. It depends where he goes and how many chances he gets.

"It is up to each individual player to adapt to their surroundings. It's a challenge and I think Kris is the type of lad who will adapt to whatever challenge is put in front of him. I just want him to be playing and at the highest level possible to the benefit of Scotland. He is an excellent goalscorer and is now back in the Scotland set-up which I'm really pleased about. He came on against the Czech Republic in my first game and did well."

Clubs in Turkey and Germany have also been linked with Boyd with Smith admitting that Rangers simply cannot match the money available to the 26-year-old elsewhere. "Kris is going," said Smith. "There is no doubt about that now. We have never wanted to admit he would leave, but we are doing so now. We've made him an offer, but he's getting much higher offers from other clubs and he is going. Kris leaves here with the best wishes of every one of us at Rangers. He has been absolutely terrific for this club and his scoring record is second to none."

Boyd himself has yet to confirm his departure from the club he supported from childhood but it is understood he has now reconciled himself with the prospect of leaving Scotland.

"He is leaving through circumstances more than anything else, with the situation Rangers are in financially," observed Levein. "In the past, Rangers would normally have been able to keep a hold of Kris and it would have been sorted out long before now. But Walter's hands have been tied a little bit and he hasn't been able to do the stuff he would normally be able to do. I don't really have an issue with where any player goes. But what I would say is that the higher the level the player is playing at, then the better it is for me and the country. Playing at the top level week in, week out is akin to playing against international players. The more experience our players get of that, then the better it is for me.

"It's not my decision. Kris Boyd and his agent are not going to phone me and ask where he needs to go. It's up to him. He's had a good season and scored a lot of goals."

While Boyd was not always a regular in Smith's starting line-up for Rangers, his loss will not be easily compensated for as the veteran manager looks to rebuild after losing Nacho Novo, DaMarcus Beasley and Steven Smith. Club captain David Weir and his fellow defender Kirk Broadfoot are also out of contract but both are keen to pen new deals.