The Rumour Mill: Tuesday’s football news and gossip

Celtic have stepped up their interest in £500,000-rated Rapid Vienna striker Hamdi Salihi after being priced out of moves for Senegalese forward Baba Diawara and Huddersfield Town sensation Jordan Rhodes. Diawara’s club Maritimo have informed Celtic that a bid of £6 million wouldn’t be enough to prize the player away from the Portuguese side, whilst West Ham United are expected to put in a new bid of around £4.5 million for the prolific Rhodes. Albanian Salihi has scored 42 goals in 66 appearances for the Austrian side, with coach Peter Schoettel preferring to see the player leave for a price this month, rather than for free in the summer. Meanwhile, Neil Lennon has knocked back an enquiry from Southampton about striker Gary Hooper.

Having been linked with Hibernian’s Garry O’Connor and St Johnstone’s Francisco Sandaza, Rangers are now keeping tabs on Real Valladolid striker Javi Guerra. Guerra has scored 34 goals in 55 appearances for the Spanish side, who play in Spain’s Segunda División, and his £2 million price tag - Rangers’ entire transfer budget - is unlikely to put the Ibrox side off making a move, as it begins to look increasingly like Croatian forward Nikica Jelavic is angling for a move to the English Premier League, with Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas praising the striker’s abilities yesterday.

• Rangers centre back Dorin Goian has revealed how he nearly gave up playing football due to chronic back trouble - but was cured after worshipping the relics of a 19th century Turkish saint during a visit to a Romanian monastery. (Record)

Former Hibs and Celtic striker Derek Riordan has been linked with a move to Kilmarnock. Riordan, who spent just four months with Chinese side Shaanxi Chanba, returned to Scotland in December, and Kilmarnock manager Kenny Shiels believes Riordan is the perfect replacement for his son Dean Shiels, whose loan deal with the Rugby Park side ends next week. Riordan is a free agent, after negotiating his release from the Chinese side, playing only nine games and scoring once. The player, who scored over 100 goals for Hibs, is set to play a part in Kilmarnock’s bounce match with Rangers later today. Shiels has the full backing of chairman Michael Johnson and will attempt to thrash out a deal which would see Riordan at Kilmarnock until the end of the season. (Sun)

Aberdeen have begun their clearout with striker Josh Magennis told he can leave the club. The Northern Irish frontman, whose contract runs out in the summer, was signed by Mark McGhee but has found appearances - and goals - hard to come by under Craig Brown. Magennis has started just seven games this season, and Brown understands the striker will want to move on to ensure regular first team football. Meanwhile, Pittodrie starlet Jack Grimmer is set to sign a pre-contract agreement with English side Fulham. Grimmer, who made his Aberdeen debut aged just 16 years, two months and 13 days, is one of the club’s top prospects but is out of contract at the end of the season. Fulham are believed to have been tracking the homegrown youngster, and would likely pay the Dons a fee of around £250,000 for the midfielder. (various)

St Johnstone manager Steve Lomas has criticised Rangers for their very public courting of Francisco Sandaza. Lomas has blasted the Ibrox club for unsettling his leading scorer, who has nine goals this season after forming a successful partnership with on-loan Cillian Sheridan. Rangers were said to be contemplating a pre-contract agreement for the former Dundee United striker, who is free to talk to clubs as he is in the last six months of his current contract. However, Lomas revealed he telephoned Ally McCoist to insist that negotiations be carried out in the proper way.

• The Perth side have extended Cillian Sheridan’s loan deal until the end of the season. Sheridan, who has scored four goals this season, was initially signed on a six-month loan deal from Russian side CSKA Moscow. (various)

Hearts could be set for a much-needed £1 million windfall if former goalkeeper Craig Gordon makes just six more appearances for Sunderland. New manager Martin O’Neill has quashed rumours that he would actively seek to avoid activating the clause in Gordon’s contract, who became the UK’s most expensive goalkeeper when he moved from Tynecastle to Tyneside for a then-record £9 million in 2007. (Record)

In brief:

• Hibs boss Pat Fenlon has played down the abuse he received from sections of the home support during his side’s cup clash with Second Division league-leaders Cowdenbeath at Central Park, with the fans set to go unpunished. (Scotsman)

• St Johnstone are due to take three players on trial from today. The trio of Kingsley Francis-Reynolds, Daniel Day, and Ryan Marriott are set to feature in a bounce game for the Perthshire side. The three were formerly attached to Blackpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea respectively. (Record)

• Aidan Chippendale has returned to Huddersfield Town after his loan deal at Inverness Caledonian Thistle ended. (various)

• Craig Dargo is said to be interesting both Stirling Albion and Irish side Glentoran, after negotiating his release from Partick Thistle. (Sun)

• Raith Rovers manager John McGlynn has publicly thanked the club’s directors for helping to finance the signing of Damian Casalinuovo. The Argentinian signed on a permanent deal for the Kirkcaldy side earlier this week, as the club look to climb the table away from the relegation zone. (Express)

• James McPake, who was said to be interesting Hibs, Hearts, Dundee Utd and Dunfermline, will not be allowed to leave Coventry City until a replacement has been signed, according to manager Andy Thorn. (Scotsman)

• Marcello Lippi has revealed he touted Kenny Miller to various Serie A clubs whilst the Scotland striker was at Rangers. The Italian manager also urged Scotland to focus on youth as a way of improving the game. (various)

• Andre Villas-Boas has backed Ally McCoist to be a success at Rangers. Villas-Boas and McCoist became good friends whilst on the same coaching course, but the Chelsea boss has ruled out the possibility of any Chelsea players being loaned to the Ibrox side. (Sun)

• Alex Miller has made history by becoming the first Scottish manager to take the reins at a Russian side. The former Hibs and Aberdeen manager was unveiled yesterday as the manager of FC Sibir, based in Siberia. (various)

• The racism row in football is showing no signs of slowing down, with Everton striker Louis Saha the latest player to be racially abused on social networking site Twitter. A fan’s account was allegedly accessed by an unauthorised person. Investigations are ongoing. (Scotsman)

• Lastly, former Hibs and Falkirk manager John Hughes was a shock 1-3 favourite to replace Neil Warnock as manager of Queen’s Park Rangers - until bookies rectified their mistake, and it was revealed that Mark Hughes was the odds-on favourite, and not his Leith namesake John. (various)

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