Rangers midfielder dismisses move talk

The Rangers midfielder Giovanni van Bronckhorst has laughed off speculation that Chelsea are poised to make a £10m move for him.

The Rangers midfielder Giovanni van Bronckhorst has laughed off speculation that Chelsea are poised to make a £10m move for him.

It is not the first time the in-form Dutch international, who has 18 months on his current deal to run, has been linked with a move out of Ibrox.

"It doesn't stop," he said. "Last week I was going to Milan and I should have been at Arsenal a couple of weeks ago. I have just got to get on until it's really the case, and at the moment it isn't.

"I have still one year on my contract after this and, at the moment, it's not the most important thing for myself.

"I'm on the verge of getting to the second stage of the Champions' League and the Scottish League isn't going so well, so I have a lot to concentrate on now."

Meanwhile, one potential transfer into Ibrox yesterday looked no nearer to completion.

In Spain, Español have pronounced their striker Raul Tamudo "almost fully fit" despite a proposed £11m move to Rangers collapsing last week after the 23-year-old failed a medical at Ibrox over a knee injury. The Barcelona club say that Tamudo could even take part in their Uefa Cup tie against the Austrian side Grazer AK tomorrow.

The player has since ruled out all possibility of a move to Rangers being revived, and was said to be upset that Rangers announced he would not be eligible to play for Rangers in the next round of Champions' League fixtures, should they qualify.

The Rangers manager, Dick Advocaat, backed the club's medical experts who concluded that an injury picked up in the Olympic final against eventual winners, Cameroon, meant Tamudo was not fit to pass a medical.

"They were quite clear about their decision and they had their doubts," Advocaat said. "Probably there will be a conversation between Rangers and their club. If he plays in Europe it's a problem. I know about the medical results and will wait and see if he plays."

The legendary former Rangers goalkeeper Peter McCloy believes that Advocaat, will not be taking an unreasonable risk if he plays the untried keeper Jesper Christiansen in the crucial Champions' League game against Sturm Graz in Austria tonight. Advocaat paid £1.7m for the player over the weekend.

McCloy is no stranger to the pressures of important European ties after helping Rangers to European Cup-Winners' Cup glory in 1972 in Barcelona, when he was part of the team that beat Moscow Dynamo 3-2 to win the final.

The teenager Mark Brown has been drafted into the first team to cover the injured Stefan Klos and Lionel Charbonnier, but McCloy believes Advocaat has made the right decision by replacing the 18-year-old with the former Odense goalkeeper.

"It isn't a gamble by Dick Advocaat to play him - the situation has been forced upon the manager," said McCloy. "Mark Brown has done well for the team, but it is a lot to ask to pitch him into a game like this.

"Unfortunately, it's a big game for the goalkeeper to be making his debut. It would be better if he had had time to have a couple of games behind him and for the defence to get to know him."