Kyle Bartley back to see team-mate prove he’s worth over £6.5m

ANY club hoping to prise Nikica Jelavic away from Rangers will have to offer a lot more than Leicester City’s £6.5million bid in the summer, according to Kyle Bartley.

Jelavic scored twice and was involved in the other in Rangers’ 3-1 win over Dundee United, and Bartley, back in the team after a three-month injury lay-off, said the Croatian’s value must have soared since the start of the season.

“Possibly bigger clubs than Leicester will look at him,” the on-loan Englishman said. “I think his price tag will be a lot bigger than it was in the summer.

“He’s on fire right now and has been outstanding all season, and it would be fantastic to keep hold of him in the long term. When a player shows how good he is as Jelavic has done this season then there are always going to be clubs interested. Hopefully we can keep hold of him and win the league title.”

Bartley played in midfield rather than defence on his return from a hernia operation, replacing the injured Lee McCuloch. “I played a bounce game last week and didn’t think I’d be back so quickly,” he said. “But Lee got injured, unfortunately, and now that I’m in I hope to keep my place and stay injury-free for the rest of the season.”

The 20-year-old’s initial loan spell at Rangers was ended abruptly last season by a knee ligament injury, and he explained that motivated him to return from Arsenal to Ibrox for the current campaign. “I had options in the summer and could have stayed at Arsenal, but when I got injured at the end of last season I felt that I had unfinished business at Rangers. It’s a fantastic club and it’s a good place for me to learn.

“I signed a long-term contract [at Arsenal] before I came out on loan. I see my long-term future at Arsenal and I’ll go back at the end of the season and try to break into the team.”

Bartley was booked at the end of the game for his involvement in a fracas which saw team-mate Gregg Wylde sent off and Dundee United midfielder Willo Flood cautioned. “It was a little bit of handbags between Wyldey and Willo Flood,” he said. “The ref made his decision and sent Gregg off, and we have to accept these things.

“I was a little bit angry with Flood’s tackle on Wyldey, which I felt was out of order. I’ll always protect one of our players.”

Offering a contrasting opinion, Flood suggested that Wylde would not have been sent off but for Bartley’s intervention. “I won the tackle and then Wylde kicked out and the ref sent him off,” the United player said. “Then God knows what he booked me for as he was giving a throw-in.

“He booked Bartley as he came over and started the ruck. If he’d have kept his nose out of it then the boy Wylde wouldn’t have got sent off. I didn’t feel Wylde catch me, but some of the lads, [including] Keith Watson, told me that he’d kicked out. If he did kick out then he deserved to go. If he didn’t then he should have stayed on. But I think if Bartley had kept his nose out of it, Wylde wouldn’t have got sent off.”

After getting involved in the on-field incident, however, Bartley declined to join battle when told of Flood’s comment. “I guess that’s Willo Flood’s point of view,” he said.