£3m Lafferty added to Ibrox attack while Gow weighs up Burnley deal

KYLE Lafferty's move to Rangers is set to be rubber-stamped today after the Ibrox club agreed a fee in excess of £3 million with English Championship club Burnley.

Included in the deal is striker Alan Gow, who will leave Ibrox for Burnley if he can agree personal terms. Rangers are confident that Lafferty's arrival at Ibrox will not be affected by Gow's decision, and agreed terms with the Northern Irish international striker last night.

"Details have been agreed between Burnley and Rangers and terms have been agreed between Rangers and Kyle Lafferty," a Rangers spokesman said last night. "Talks are on-going between Alan Gow and Burnley."

The benefit to Burnley will also be supplemented by an add-on of £250,000 should Lafferty complete a set number of fixtures for the Ibrox side. The English club are also set to receive 10 per cent of any future profit Rangers make on Lafferty.

Gow, who only made two appearances for Rangers in a frustrating one-season stay, was in Burnley yesterday and will inform manager Owen Coyle of his decision today. His association with Coyle, which dates from their time together as players at Airdrie and Falkirk, is likely to help convince Gow that the switch to England is the right one, as will the tempting prospect of first-team football. His only games for Rangers last season came in cup competitions against lower league opposition.

The signing of Lafferty, 20, is another statement of intent by Walter Smith, whose capture of the Burnley striker will take the club's summer spending spree to £6 million so far. This money has been spent exclusively on strikers, with Lafferty set to join new signings Kenny Miller and Andrius Velicka at Ibrox. The deals leave clear question marks over the Ibrox futures of Kris Boyd, Daniel Cousin, Jean-Claude Darcheville and Nacho Novo.

Smith has clearly pin-pointed where he feels his side, who won a domestic cup double last season, can improve. The 6ft 4in Lafferty offers another option in attack and scored five times in 40 appearances last season after being moved out to a wide position. The forward has already won 16 caps for his country and scored five goals.

A mid-season dip in form during the last campaign saw him grow more unsettled at Turf Moor, where he had been since signing on as a schoolboy. An interview in which he appeared to claim he would never be able to convince a group of Burnley fans of his worth caused outrage last season. It was only a matter of time before he moved on, with Celtic and Wolves also in the running to sign him. Last week, Celtic had a bid of £2.75million, plus Derek Riordan, turned down by Burnley.

"We have received a very good offer from Rangers," said Coyle. "(It is] a deal worth close to £4million when you include Alan (Gow], who has been offered to us as part of the package. Ultimately Kyle wanted to leave after saying he felt it was time to move on."

Lafferty, a Rangers fan since a boy in Fermanagh, was always more attracted by talk of a move to Ibrox. Fulham, then under the charge of former Nothern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez, tried to sign him last year but were put off by the £6million price tag. With two years of his contract still to run at Turf Moor the price has dropped and Sanchez yesterday said the Ibrox club had got a good deal.

"I feel Kyle still needs to work on his heading ability, but he is far better on the ground that you would think," said Sanchez. "I know it is an obvious tag, but he is very Peter Crouch-ish."