The Rumour Mill: Monday’s football news and gossip

Rangers liquidation latest

• Entrepreneur Jim McColl will formally place a bid for Rangers worth £6m with London investment bank Zeus Capital today on behalf of a consortium fronted by former manager Walter Smith. Charles Green’s consortium is not expected to accept the offer. (Herald)

• Rangers are missing from the Scottish Premier League’s fixture list for next season, with “Club 12” having taken their place. The omission represents a change of heart from the SPL, who had previously said they would include the Ibrox club in their 2012-13 list, which is published this morning. (Scotsman)

• And the SPL is set for a heated meeting today as it tries to fix the mess left by Rangers. They could press on with plans to form an SPL2 after Sky confirmed it had no plans to pull out of Scottish football. (Sun)

• But SFL chief executive David Longsmuir believes talk of Rangers dropping to down to the First Division, or SPL2, as “speculative” at this stage. (Herald)

• Defender Dorin Goian fears Rangers’ omission from the fixture list could lead to a player exodus from Ibrox. (Record)

• Former Rangers defender Jean-Alain Boumgsong has revealed his unease over being paid via an employee benefit trust while at Ibrox. The Frenchman said: “My salary was normally paid but there was a trust. I was not comfortable with that to be honest... But the day I was signing for Rangers I was told it was legal.” (Various)

• Boumsong also said he would be happy to come back to the club on a cut-price deal. (Various)

Celtic could swoop for Montero

Celtic have been linked with a move for Villareal winger Jefferson Montero. The Parkhead club have so far had their advances for the Ecuador-born player rejected, but with Mexican side Monarcas Morelia now tabling a £2m bid, Celtic could be forced to make a swift counter-offer. (Mail)

• Greece international goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis has emerged as a signing target for Celtic, after he kept a vital clean sheet in his country’s 1-0 win over Russia. With Fraser Forster yet to commit to a £2m transfer from Newcastle to make his Parkhead stay permanent, Sifakis is the latest name to be linked with the Glasgow club after they were made aware that he is available on a free transfer. (Record)

• Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has revealed he has turned down a £6m offer for South Korean midfielder Ki Sung-Yeung from Rubin Kazan. (Sun)

• Celtic target Jordan Rhodes will hold contract talks with Huddersfield this week. (Record)

• Celtic have missed out on signing Icelandic striker Bjorn Bergmann Sigurdarson, who has penned a deal with Wolves. (Record)

• Victor Wanyama has spoken of the “many bids” for his services and has refused to pledge his future to Celtic. (Record)

Hendry calls for annual Scotland-England fixture

Former Scotland international Colin Hendry has urged the SFA to ensure that the return, next year, of the Home International contest against England at Wembley is not a one-off. He added: “There is no reason why it should be as I feel the best spin-off which could come from next year’s match is that we get the Home International matches back.” (Record)

Clancy set to seal Hibs switch

Irish defender Tim Clancy is likely to be confirmed as Hibernian’s first signing of the summer this week. The 27-year-old agreed a deal with the Easter Road outfit last month after rejecting Motherwell’s offer of a contract extension but the move has been on hold while Hibs manager Pat Fenlon has been on holiday. (Scotsman)

• Despite being strongly linked with Polish champions Slask Wroclaw, former Carlisle defender Lubo Michalik has refused to rule out a move to Hibs. (Record)

IN BRIEF

• Kilmarnock boss Kenny Shiels says he needs to sign two strikers to take the pressure off Paul Heffernan and Dieter van Tornhout. (Record)

• Scotland international Robert Snodgrass is a £4m target for Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert. (Record)

• Cowdenbeath have secured their top scorer Marc McKenzie on a new one-year deal. (Record)