RANGERS manager Walter Smith last night confirmed the club has pulled out of a deal to sign Danny Shittu after failing to agree personal terms with the Watford defender.
The 27-year-old had been in talks with the Ibrox side – who beat German fourth division side Preussen Munster 1-0 in the first of their three-match pre-season camp in Holland yesterday evening – after his club accepted a bid of around £1.5m.
Howev
er, after a week of negotiations with the player and his representative, Rangers have ended their interest in the player. Smith said: "Negotiations have been going on between the two clubs and the players for quite a period of time now.
"We have not managed to reach agreement on that one, so it looks as though we are finished there now."
Celtic have also been linked with a move for Shittu and several English Premier League clubs have made enquiries about the centre-half. Shittu, who has 12 international caps for Nigeria, joined Watford from Queens Park Rangers in 2006 and has previously had spells with Charlton and Blackpool.
Earlier this month Rangers extended the contracts of defenders Christian Dailly and David Weir, while Andy Webster has made his move to Ibrox permanent having initially been on loan from Wigan. Both Dailly and Weir started in the victory over Preussen last night and new signing Kenny Miller made his second Rangers debut as Smith's side made a winning start to their pre-season schedule.
Miller, who is back with Rangers seven years after leaving for Wolves, struck the post as the Ibrox outfit beat the German team with a first-half penalty from Charlie Adam.
However, with captain Barry Ferguson ruled out for up to four months with ankle ligament damage, injuries later sustained by Adam and DaMarcus Beasley will cause some concern for Smith. "DaMarcus looks as though he has a bit of hamstring trouble and we're disappointed that has happened," said Smith. "Charlie also went over his ankle, but he is okay and that should clear up without too many problems."
New signing Kyle Lafferty and last season's star man, Carlos Cuellar, sat out the game through injury, but Smith hopes to have them back during their three-game spell in Germany.
"Kyle hurt his back in training this morning and had spasms so he was left out," Smith added. "I don't know if he'll be fit for Wednesday's game at Sportfreunde Lotte or not.
"Carlos has a little bit of a calf problem. It is tight but nothing more than that, so we are taking precautions with him too. If he ends up missing Wednesday's match, I think he will be okay for Saturday's meeting with Schalke."
Smith reserved special praise for Miller, adding: "Kenny did well for the team and had two or three really good chances that he might have converted. He hit the post just after the break and, all in all, played very well.
"We are happy enough with the outcome of the game and although we picked up one or two injuries, I would hope they're not serious."
Rangers made a slow start in the Preussen Stadion, with Dailly forced to race back to clear an early effort from Marius Sowislo off the line. The former West Ham defender and fellow centre-back Weir both had chances at the other end, with Dailly heading just over after Munster goalkeeper David Buchholz had misjudged a corner.
The goalkeeper then conceded a penalty when he brought down Jean-Claude Darcheville after the Frenchman had skipped past him following Lee McCulloch's through-ball and Adam stepped up to convert in the 36th minute.
Preussen Munster: Buchholz, Ozkara, Capretti, Wassey, Loose, Lauretta, Sowislo, Kara, Ornatelli, Wissing.
Rangers: Alexander, Whittaker, Dailly, Weir, Papac, Beasley (Furman 73), Thomson (Novo 46), Adam (Fleck 70), McCulloch, Darcheville, Miller.
The full article contains 657 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
