RANGERS defender David Weir is poised to sign a new one-year contract this week, with manager Walter Smith convinced the veteran can perform at the highest level for at least another campaign.
The 38-year-old former Everton centre-back was a key member of the Rangers side who came up just short of a four-trophy season and the club are eager to keep him on board.
Weir played 60 club matches last season, establishing an instant
understanding with Spaniard Carlos Cuellar, and was also a regular in Scotland's Euro 2008 qualifying campaign. Completing negotiations with Weir should be among the more straightforward tasks Rangers face this summer.
While their search for a creative midfielder continues, there is the strong likelihood the Ibrox club will receive a further bid from Cardiff for striker Kris Boyd in the coming days.
Rangers have turned down an initial offer from the ambitious FA Cup runners-up and are apparently highly reluctant to part with a player who hit 25 goals last season despite making just 23 starts. However the Welsh team may not drop their interest and they were spending this weekend considering their next move.
A move to Cardiff may hold little appeal to Boyd unless he is told his prospects of first-team football at Rangers are bleak. He has, on more than one occasion, stated he wishes to stay with the club he has always supported.
Chairman Sir David Murray does not want to see the former Kilmarnock frontman leave, and Smith could spring a surprise by making the man who spent much of last season on the bench the new focal point of his attack for the coming campaign. Rangers sold Scotland defender Alan Hutton to Tottenham in January once the price reached a level they could not afford to turn down, but unless the offers for Boyd soar well above the £2.5million level offered at this stage there seems little prospect of a sale.
Boyd has age in his favour as he maps out his future. Daniel Cousin, 31, and Jean-Claude Darcheville, who turns 33 next month, may now be more vulnerable to being moved on than the Scot. Cousin, who was a target for Fulham last season, is thought unlikely to start the season with the CIS Cup and Scottish Cup winners.
However, Darcheville has vowed to fight for his place at Rangers and insists the arrival of three new strikers will not tempt him to seek a move. Kenny Miller, Andrius Velicka and Kyle Lafferty will be vying for selection to Smith's attack next season after agreeing to join Rangers in the past fortnight.
But French frontman Darcheville is ready for the challenge of taking on the new arrivals and is determined to stay and fight for his place after enjoying his first campaign at Ibrox.
"The fact Rangers have brought in three new strikers doesn't worry me – it excites me," he said. "It's fantastic news that the club is looking to strengthen and that's why I will be there next season.
"I see a lot of potential at Rangers, I love the club and I am settled in Scotland. I don't want to leave."
Meanwhile, Filip Sebo last night paid tribute to Rangers supporters, after quitting Ibrox last month in a £1 million move to French side Valenciennes.
Sebo, who flopped at Rangers after former Ibrox manager Paul Le Guen paid £1.8 million to Austria Vienna two years ago, said he would love to come back to Glasgow to thank the supporters for their support.
The striker said: "They are so important for me. Even now, being in France, I think about them. We will meet again, I promise."
The full article contains 628 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
