Rumour Mill: Man City '˜would have rejected Â£30m for Roberts' | Rangers line up glamour friendly

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers had hoped to sign Patrick Roberts on a permanent deal. Picture: John Devlin

Celtic ‘would have broken transfer record for Roberts’

Brendan Rodgers has insisted Celtic were ready to break the bank in order to sign Patrick Roberts on a permanent deal - but claimed Manchester City would have turned down a bid of £30 million.

Rodgers has revealed he was keen to bring in the attacking midfieldero on a permanent deal, but City were reluctant to sell.

“We would have broken our transfer record for Patrick. We wanted to get him back here. But he’s a Manchester City player. We could have offered £30m and they would have said no,” Rodgers added.

Rangers line up Benfica friendly

Rangers are set to face Benfica in a glamour friendly match in Canada next month, according to reports.

The Ibrox side are reportedly being lined up as the opposition in the annual Eusebio Cup on October 6, during the next international break.

But the fixture, normally a pre-season friendly, has been delayed this year with the venue expected to be switched from the Estadio da Luz to Tim Hortons Field in Ontario, home of Canadian Football League side Hamilton Tiger-Cats. (Daily Record)

Brown claims Scotland are playing ‘the Celtic way’

Scott Brown believes Scotland have revived their World Cup hopes by playing ‘the Celtic way’.

The Scotland and Celtic skipper believes the possession football that worked so well against England and Lithuania is key to Scotland’s performances.

Brown added: “We want to keep possession, make [the opposition] work hard, and we’re lucky enough at Celtic that we’ve got a team who can do that and now we’ve got a team who can do it at Scotland as well.” (Evening Times)

Reynolds to sign new Dons deal

Mark Reynolds will put pen to paper on a new two-year deal at Pittodrie this week, according to reports.

The 30-year-old defender has been a key performer under Derek McInnes and despite his current deal not running out until the summer, Aberdeen have moved quickly to tie the former Motherwell stopper up on a longer deal. (Various)

Strachan urges yellow card quartet: ‘Keep your cool’

Gordon Strachan has warned the four Scotland players currently one booking away from a ban not to do anything silly at Hampden tonight.

Leigh Griffiths, Scott Brown, James McArthur and Grant Hanley face missing the Slovakia showdown if they are yellow-carded against Malta tonight.

Strachan said: “Stand up and be counted. Don’t be bullied by anyone for the sake of not getting that yellow card. Play the game. But just don’t do silly things.” (The Scotsman)

Onyekuru aims to shoot down Celtic

He was courted by Celtic and a host of other top clubs before eventually joining Everton - but Henry Onyekuru is aiming to shatter the Hoops’ European hopes by firing Anderlecht to victory in Group B.

Onyekuru said: “I’m really happy that a club like Celtic were interested in me. But I still need to improve as a player and I can do that at Anderlecht before hopefully playing in the Premier League.

“I won’t have extra motivation for the matches with Celtic. For me, I treat every match like a cup final and I’ll be searching for my best performance against them.” (Daily Record)

Celtic ‘light years ahead of Rangers’ admits McCoist

Ally McCoist has admitted that Celtic are light years ahead of Rangers.

The former Ibrox boss was appearing on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show on talkSPORT last week, and said that while he’s seen progress under Pedro Caixinha, the gulf between the two sides is too big.

McCoist added: “I have seen Rangers a couple of times this season. Definitely there is progress, of that there is no doubt, but in terms of catching Celtic, absolutely not enough progress, nowhere near it. Celtic look definitely light years ahead.” (Various)

McGinn happy to stay at Hibs

Hibernian midfielder John McGinn has said he is happy to still be at Easter Road despite a flurry of bids for the Scotland international from Nottingham Forest on deadline day.

The ex-St Mirren ace, who will now remain with Hibs until at least the January transfer window, told BBC Sport: “I’m happy where I am, I’m enjoying my football, I feel as if I’m getting better and better and delighted to get my fourth [Scotland] cap. I was a Hibs player before the window, I’m still a Hibs player, so that’s fine by me.” (BBC Sport)

Templeton opens up on ‘failed’ Rangers switch

Hamilton midfielder David Templeton has opened up about his time at Rangers, admitting that it was ‘unfortunate’ that the move didn’t work out.

The former Hearts man, now 28, told the BBC: “At the time, you could never say no to Rangers and it’s just unfortunate things didn’t work out for me.

“For all I know, things could have gone a totally different way and I could still be there. I didn’t perform as well as I wanted to and had a few injuries there as well.

“It is a huge change going there, the expectancy, the pressure, everything. When things aren’t going well, it is a tough place to play.” (BBC Sport Scotland)

McBurnie glad to swap glamour for game-time

Scotland Under-21 striker Oli McBurnie insists he is delighted to be turning his back on the glamour of the English Premier League for the cut-throat Championship after agreeing a season-long loan deal with Barnsley.

McBurnie said: “A lot of people probably thought that I would just sit back and stay [at Swansea] because I was getting five, ten minutes in the Premier League. It was the safe option.

“But I want to be playing every week and I want to test myself in a good standard and playing 90 minutes is the best way to do that.

“The gaffer was happy for me to stay. I said to him I thought it was best for me to be playing every week and he agreed. But he’s told me he sees me as part of his plans.” (The Scotsman)

Rumour Mill: Man City '˜would have rejected Â£30m for Roberts' | Rangers line up glamour friendly | Scotland '˜playing the Celtic way'