Aston Villa boss Alex Mcleish has identified Rangers striker Steven Naismith as his number one January transfer-window target. Naismith, 25, has spent his entire playing career in Scotland. His first appearance came in the 2003/04 season whilst playing for Kilmarnock, for whom he went on to make over 100 appearances over a five season spell. During his time with Kilmarnock he won the Scottish Football Writersâ Association Young Player of the Year which prompted interest from both Glasgow giants, Rangers and Celtic. Rangers announced the signing of Naismith on 31 August 2007 after Kilmarnock accepted a bid of £1.9million. Naismithâs Rangers career started promisingly as he netted 5 goals in 21 appearances during his first season. That, however, was cut short after he suffered cruciate ligament damage during a Scottish Semi-Cup final match against St Johnston where Martin Hardie stepped on his left knee. Initially, Naismith returned to the field of play after being treated on the sidelines, but he shortly broke down and had to be stretchered off. The injury kept him out for 8 months. Last season was Naismithâs most prolific as he netted 11 times in 31 appearances. His tough tackling demeanour, and his adaptability in playing positions (he can play across the front line or as an advanced-midfielder) has led to Mcleish identifying him as his top transfer target. Naismith should also be available relatively cheaply considering Rangersâ current financial difficulties. http://www.footie-online.co.uk/2011/09/villa-after-naismith/6395/ I would say £9m is relatively cheap these days in the EPL
If Big Eck is willing to pay £10m for N'Zomnia, then he can pay likewise for Naisy. In all seriousness though, we will be ****ed if we sell him as he's our best player. And I could see Kenny Dal bidding for him, I reckon he's a Dalglish type of player.
He has stated before that he wants to stay but if we did sell him we would expect big money for him. He has been a cracking player for us and you can see the difference when he's not on the pitch. Will not be happy in January id Naisy & Jelavic are still on top form. Let's try and tell everyone how good Maurice Edu is and punt him!
Edu is coming onto a game these days, in that he's went from being absolutely ****e, to average and if he keeps up this rate of improvement, we'll be looking at the greatest player ever come the end of the season.
Hopefully he keeps up his form. Allys words seemed to work wonders. Liverpool in £18m swoop for Rangers Edu Fingers crossed we see this in Jan
I dont know how much thruth there is in the story but Whyte did say you need to trim £7m so it wouldn;t be a surprise if you sold Naismith or Jelevic in January.
the bigger picture is CL group stage. that's what whyte should be looking at. If andy caroll is worth 35M to kennt dal then wee naisy is easy 40M
