Wednesday's Scottish gossip

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Rangers have made £2.5m-rated French-Tunisian defender Yohan Benalouane, who plays for Cesena, a priority target after failing to land Anderlecht's Rolan Juhasz. (Daily Express)

Anderlecht say they will not be bullied into selling defender Roland Juhasz to Rangers and will not reduce their asking price after rejecting five bids for the player from the Glasgow club. (the Sun)

Den Haag winger Wesley Verhoek pulled the plug on his transfer to Nottingham Forest - and will not be joining Rangers either - because of his 11th-hour decision that he could not live outside the Netherlands. (Daily Record)

Wesley Verhoek is poised to join Vitesse Arnhem from Den Haag after rejecting moves to Nottingham Forest and Rangers. (the Sun)

Rangers have accused the HMRC of leaking details of the club's finances as owner Craig Whyte challenges a £2.8m tax bill. (Daily Record)

Rangers have hit back at Madjid Bougherra's claim that he felt sickened by the club's offer of a new contract, saying that the defender had no intention of staying at Ibrox before his £1.7m move to Lekhwiya. (Daily Mail)

Algeria coach Vahid Halilhodzic says he is less likely to select Madjid Bougherra now that the defender has moved from Rangers to Qatar champions Lekhwiya because he is playing at a lower level of football. (Daily Record)

Steven Whittaker could play for Rangers against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday despite the broken toe that led to his withdrawal from the Scotland squad to face Denmark. (Daily Record)

Celtic are confident that they will tie up a deal to sign Polish goalkeeper Grzegorz Sandomierski from Jagiellonia Bialystok today. (the Sun)

Jagiellonia Bialystok goalkeeper Grzegorz Sandomierski wants to follow Poland team-mate Artur Boruc's example by moving to Celtic. (Daily Record)

Osasuna striker Jorge Galan has flown into Scotland to undergo a medical ahead of a season-long loan with Kilmarnock. (Various)

Hibernian have offered freed Aston Villa midfielder Isaiah Osbourne a two-year contract and hope the 23-year-old will be signed in time to face Kilmarnock on Saturday. (Daily Record)

Hibernian manager Colin Calderwood is delighted to have secured Isaiah Osbourne three years after failing to sign the midfielder for Nottingham Forest. (the Sun)

St Mirren defender Darren McGregor is out for the season with a cruciate ligament injury picked up against Dundee United on Sunday. (Daily Record)

Dundee United midfielder Gary Mackay-Steven's has been told he has only suffered severe bruising after fears that the summer signing could have broken his leg. (Daily Record)

St Johnstone striker Sam Parkin hopes to return to action by the end of the month despite fearing that his career was finished by a serious ankle break picked up in February. (Various)

Former Scotland midfielder Neil McCann has promised to play for free should he sign for Partick Thistle. (Daily Record)

Annan Athletic's sloping pitch will be a thing of the past after the club decided to install an artificial pitch next summer. (Daily Record)

OTHER GOSSIP

Mike Blair's future at Edinburgh is in doubt again after Scotland international rival Greig Laidlaw was handed the club captaincy. (the Herald)

Scottish golfer Stephen Gallacher believes he can handle the heat this week at the USPGA at Atlanta Athletic Club in Georgia. (Daily Record)

Glasgow Tigers boss Stewart Dickson says Sheffield are clutching at straws by claiming that their fixture at Ashfield was called off because the home team were minus two riders rather than rain. (the Sun)