Rangers fail with fresh David Goodwillie bid but Dorin Goian is secured

The Ibrox side made a 1 million-plus offer to United last month but that was rejected by chairman Stephen Thompson, and last night they tabled a similar offer which was also immediately booted out by the Tannadice club.

United had agreed in principle with Cardiff City to transfer Goodwillie to the Championship but while deliberations continued over the charges the player faced, the Welsh club looked elsewhere, with Kenny Miller and Robert Earnshaw signing on for Malky Mackay's side recently.

Blackpool have been long-time admirers of the 22-year-old Scotland international and remain firmly in the hunt, with chairman Karl Oyston maintaining regular contact with United for the past six weeks.

Oyston has asked to be kept abreast of all developments and the windfall received by the Championship side following their relegation from the Premiership could see them double Rangers' offer - and pay up front.

With Goodwillie now free of the threat of court action, United expect to move him on quickly.

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It also emerged last night that Goodwillie is back in the plans of national team manager Craig Levein after the Crown Office said there was insufficient evidence in law for the case against the player to proceed. "One of the reasons he hasn't been involved until now is because of the charge hanging over him," Levein told the BBC.

"Now that has been dropped, on merit I think he's as good a young striker as there is in Scotland and certainly he'll be one I'll be thinking about."

Rangers had more luck elsewhere in the transfer market yesterday, when Dorin Goian signed a three-year contract at Ibrox but the Romanian international defender is unlikely to be able to make his debut for the club in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie against Malmo at Ibrox this evening.

While Rangers were able to register Goian in their squad with Uefa ahead of last night's 11pm deadline for the tie, he cannot play for them until he receives a work permit from the UK Border Agency.

Goian, who has moved to Rangers from Italian club Palermo for a fee in the region of 500,000, does not meet the criteria necessary to have his work permit application automatically approved.

Injury has prevented the 30-year-old former Steaua Bucharest player from appearing in the required 75 per cent of his country's full international matches over the past two years. Goian's work permit will almost certainly be issued in the event of an appeal from Rangers but the process is unlikely to be concluded in time for tonight's game.

Next Wednesday's second leg in Malmo is a more realistic target for a player Rangers manager Ally McCoist was delighted to make his third signing of the summer after Spanish winger Juan Manuel Ortiz and Scotland left-back Lee Wallace.

"Dorin will be a big asset for our squad," said McCoist. "He is very strong and aggressive. He wins his headers and tackles. Importantly for me, he has played at a very good level. Some might say the Italian league is the best in Europe in terms of the standards of defenders.

"He has Champions League experience as well so that helps. I hope he gets the chance to sample more of that here. You would hope that the factors of where he has played, his own experience and so on means he ticks a few boxes and it becomes less of a gamble. I have not seen him live personally, but a couple of the staff have done so and I have looked at a number of matches on DVD."McCoist insists the capture of Goian does not end his interest in other defensive targets, including former Rangers player Carlos Cuellar, or make him willing to sell Madjid Bougherra. Rangers have turned down a bid, reportedly in excess of 2 million, from Qatari champions Lekhwiya for Bougherra, who is in the final year of his contract at Ibrox.

"I am still looking to bring in more defenders," said McCoist. "No deal is dead. Cuellar is certainly not a dead deal for us. I would rule nobody out. We have knocked back the bid from Qatar for Bougherra and I don't want him to go anywhere. Madjid is one of our stronger players.

"I have had a couple of discussions with Madjid. I know his views on his situation, he knows my views. Most importantly, we both know the importance of the next couple of weeks or next month at our club. That's the most important thing. If he signed an extension to his contract then obviously that would be my ideal situation. But obviously there are other factors come into it. Does he want to sign another contract? Does he want to go? All these sorts of things. He hasn't said anything to me (about not wanting to play for Rangers).

"You hope obviously that players turn up for their work and I don't see any reason why that shouldn't be the case with Madjid.

"I have discussed it with him and I would rather those discussions between Madjid and I remained private."

McCoist also made it clear that his quest to increase his central defensive options should not automatically be seen as an indication that 41-year-old David Weir, who returns from suspension to face Malmo tonight, will be less involved this season.

"Time will tell," said McCoist, "but nobody thought Davie would play more than 50 games for Rangers last season.

"When we got turned over at Celtic Park in February, they were writing his obituaries as a Rangers player but he came back and was out of this world for us.

"The way he finished the season would indicate he is far from finished. In fact, I'm looking forward to seeing Davie pull on a Rangers jersey again."