Kevin Thomson to be Gordon Strachan's seventh Old Firm signing

• Kevin Thomson ponders a move to Boro

Strachan's eagerness to turn the Riverside Stadium into a haven for former Celtic and Rangers players shows no sign of diminishing with Thomson travelling to Teesside for talks yesterday as Middlesbrough also concluded a 1.5 million fee with Celtic for defender Stephen McManus. Last night McManus formalised his permanent move to the club having spent the second half of last season on loan at the Championship outfit.

Since taking charge of Middlesbrough in October, Strachan has invested considerable faith and finance in the ability of Old Firm players to help him achieve his ambition of returning his club to the English Premier League.

The January transfer window saw him recruit no fewer than five of the men who served under him during his four-year tenure at Celtic. In addition to McManus' loan move, midfielder Barry Robson, winger Willo Flood and striker Scott McDonald all joined 'Boro on permanent deals. Strachan also made a further raid on the SPL with the acquisition of striker Lee Miller from Aberdeen.

This summer, he has already signed the SPL's record goalscorer Kris Boyd on a free transfer from Rangers and now appears poised to prise Thomson away from the Ibrox club.

While Rangers manager Walter Smith would prefer to retain the services of the 25-year-old Scotland international, he recognises that the fiscally restricted SPL champions are in no position to turn down 2 million for a player who has just one year remaining on his contract. With Rangers unable to offer Thomson a new deal commensurate with the salary on offer at Middlesbrough, Smith has reluctantly sanctioned his departure.

Rangers will recoup the 2million they paid Hibs for Thomson in January 2007. Highly regarded by Smith, his time at Ibrox has been affected by injuries but he has contributed to Rangers' SPL title wins over the past two seasons.

If the Thomson deal is concluded, Smith will look to use some of the income to add a wide midfielder or winger to his squad. Chris Eagles, the former Manchester United and England under-21 player, is believed to be a target for Smith. The Burnley player has only one year left on his contract at Turf Moor and could be signed for around 1 million. While the loss of Thomson would notionally appear to weaken Rangers' central midfield resources, Smith still has Steven Davis, Maurice Edu and Lee McCulloch to deploy at the heart of his side, while he and his coaching staff also expect highly rated 19-year-old Jamie Ness to make a first team impact in the new season.

Former Celtic captain McManus' move to Middlesbrough, meanwhile, had been widely anticipated.

The 27-year-old was left out of Neil Lennon's squad for their pre-season tour of North America which begins with a match against MLS side Philadelphia Union tonight. McManus, whose Celtic career flourished following Strachan's appointment as manager in 2006, has signed a three-year contract with Middlesbrough.

He becomes the eighth player to leave Celtic since Lennon replaced Tony Mowbray as manager. Lee Naylor, Koki Mizuno and Zheng Zhi were all released on the expiry of their contracts at the end of the season, while loan signings Robbie Keane, Landry Nguemo, Diomansy Kamara and Edson Braafheid have all returned to their parent clubs.

Artur Boruc looks set to become the ninth departure as Lennon reshapes his squad. Subject to passing a medical, the Polish international goalkeeper could complete his 1.7 million move to Fiorentina today.

Lennon remains hopeful of signing 3m-rated Mexican World Cup full-back Efrain Juarez from UNAM Pumas, although the player's agent has cast some doubt on the move by suggesting his client would prefer to play in Spain or England.

Niall McGinn admits Celtic will lose a hero and role-model if Boruc does finalise his move to Italy. The Parkhead winger fears the goalkeeper's departure will leave a huge void in the dressing room but insists life will go on without Boruc.

"It's a disappointment because he has been here for a few years and he has served the club well," said McGinn.

"He's a person someone like myself looks up to and he's a big hero with the fans so it's disappointing to see him going.

"He's a big player. He just goes about his own business and just

gets on with things.

"Having a man like Artur around the squad is always good for the young boys like myself to look up to. But you've got to expect these changes in football and move on and push on and do the best for yourself."