Rangers weigh up new offer for Murray Davidson

RANGERS could make a further offer for St Johnstone midfielder Murray Davidson in January, with the 24-year-old out of contract at McDiarmid Park in the summer.

The Ibrox club had a bid of £150,000 knocked back by the Perth side in July last year, but have continued to monitor the highly-rated former Livingston star, who has previously been linked with Bristol City, and could pick him up for nothing in the summer.

Davidson is the latest in a number of SPL players currently being courted by the Third Division side, with Rangers having previously expressed interest in Aberdeen winger Ryan Fraser and Motherwell forward Jamie Murphy whilst keeping tabs on Middlesborough’s Andy Halliday.

The transfer embargo imposed on Rangers at the beginning of this season will be lifted in September next year, but players are free to sign pre-contract agreements with the club.

Manager Ally McCoist is expected to open talks with his preferred targets in January, when they enter the last six months of their contracts, and is able to offer any potential signings more money than they are currently earning - but faces an uphill task convincing players given the club’s current situation.

The Ibrox club have already tempted Dean Shiels, Francisco Sandaza, Kevin Kyle and David Templeton from SPL sides as well as attracting overseas players such as Sébastien Faure and Emílson Cribari.

Potential signings would be able to turn out for Rangers as trialists prior to signing, if an agreement were to be reached.

However, current SFA rules mean that players are unable to register outwith transfer periods unless they were unemployed on the final day of the window, meaning any future Rangers signings would have to claim they unemployment until the transfer ban is lifted.

The possibility of the club employing players in an alternative capacity is a risky option, given Livingston’s trouble with Hassan Kachloul. The West Lothian side were fined £15,000 in 2005 after registering Kachloul as an amateur player, but the SFA agreed that the club could have signed the Moroccan as a professional player and thus ruled that no competitive advantage had been gained by the Lions.

SFL rules, however, dictate that each team can play two unregistered players in any game for a maximum of three appearances. However, any potential signings would have to wait until September 1 to formalise a transfer.