RANGERS have failed in a bid for Motherwell defender Mark Reynolds, reported to have been between £750,000 and £1million, with the Fir Park club insisting that the Scotland Under-21 international is not for sale at any price.
Manager Mark McGhee last week rejected an offer to manage Hearts to stay at Fir Park for the club's Uefa Cup push, and he has been assured by chairman John Boyle that none of his top players will be sold. McGhee said: "It was part of my discussions w
ith John and one of the reasons why I didn't go to Hearts. I was given guarantees that none of our top players would be sold this summer.
"Even if Rangers were to offer £5 million for Mark Reynolds it wouldn't matter to me because I would tell John that this time next season he could be worth £10 million. Our top players are not for sale and if they are sold then I will be going out the door with them."
Former Motherwell and Rangers defender Craig Paterson, meanwhile, has warned that 21-year-old Reynolds, who played every one of Motherwell's games last season, would have his career put on hold if he moved to Ibrox.
He said: "Mark's biggest problem will be breaking into the team. If David Weir and Carlos Cuellar stay at Rangers and play to the standards they have shown then Walter Smith will go with them.
"Although Mark would be picking up good money, first-team games could be few and far between for him. He played every minute of every game for Motherwell last season.
"And once you have played regularly in the first team then you want to play there all the time, you don't want to go back to playing for the reserves."
Paterson believes Motherwell are well within their rights to hold out for a bigger fee for the under-21 international if they are looking to cash in.
He said:
"Left-side central defenders are always at a premium. But if Hearts consider Christophe Berra to be a £2million player and there is talk that Lee Wallace – who hardly ever plays at Tynecastle – is also rated a £2 million player, then Motherwell might be looking at £3 million for a player who plays every game."
The full article contains 393 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
