Clement jets in for Gers medical
JEREMY CLEMENT was today on his way to Glasgow to undergo a medical and finally sign for Rangers.
Sources at Lyon confirmed that a fee had been agreed with the Ibrox side for the 21-year-old midfielder.
And Clement was given the green-light by the French champions to travel to Scotland with his agent to complete the formalities and talks.
SportTimes revealed back on May 29 that new Gers boss Paul Le Guen had lodged a bid with his old club for the gritty former France Under-21 captain.
Clement has been a priority signing for the Gers gaffer as he views him as the man to partner skipper Barry Ferguson in central midfield.
But talks over a transfer fee have rumbled on for five weeks now. Lyon had put a price tag of £2.1million on the player who has just a year of his contract at Stade Gerland to run.
Rangers had a second bid of just over £1m rejected last week, but a deal has now been struck and Clement should become Le Guen's sixth summer signing within the next 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the French boss appears to have ended interest in trialists Makhtar N'Diaye and Cyril Chapuis.
Both players were given a 45-minute run-out in the weekend 1-0 bounce game win over Hamilton Accies at Murray Park. Senegalese internationalist N'Diaye scored the only goal of the game and had hoped to win a deal.
But neither N'Diaye or Chapuis reported for training this morning at Murray Park which would suggest that Le Guen has decided against further moves.
Italian kid Davide Tosetti, who arrived with N'Diaye and Chapuis last week, did not feature against Accies and will not be pursued either.
Jose Pierre-Fanfan is being tracked by three French sides, with Nice favourites to land the 30-year-old ahead of Troyes and Rennes.
The former PSG defender has been told he can move on, although his £17,000-a-week salary could prove a major stumbling block. Rangers may need to pay up part of the remaining two-years of his contract to get him off the wage bill.
Ross McCormack could also be on his way from Rangers shortly.
It is believed the 19-year-old – who scored a crucial goal against Porto in the Champions League last season – has been told to find a new club.
McCormack has a year left on his deal but Rangers believe it would be better for him to move on and find regular football at this stage of his career.
He will now join Pierre-Fanfan, Olivier Bernard, Bob Malcolm and Gavin Rae on the list of players Le Guen wants to move on in order to free-up wages and places in his first-team squad of 24 players.
Hamed Namouchi, meantime, is also attracting interest from several clubs – but his licensed agent today denied that Everton and Birmingham are among those suitors.
Last week, Teni Yerima, an agent claiming to represent the Tunisian midfielder, said those English clubs were chasing the 22-year-old.
But Yvan Le Me is Namouchi's only representive and said: "Hamed is under contract at Rangers until 2008. There has been interest in him but claims about Everton and Birmingham are totally unsubstantiated."
Le Guen fielded two teams against Hamilton Accies at Murray Park:
First half: Letizi; Ricksen, Pierre-Fanfan, Rodriguez, Smith; Burke, N'Diaye, Hemdani, Rae; Chapuis, Novo.
Second half: McGregor; Hutton, Ponroy, Murray, Campbell; N'Guessan, Buffel, Stanger, Adam; Boyd, McCormack.
03/07/06
