Beasley off to Glasgow

Rangers FC have com­pleted the sign­ing of DeMar­cus Beasley from PSV Eind­hoven. The 25-year-old US inter­na­tional has signed a three-year deal at Ibrox in a move that The Scots­man reports is worth £700,000. This rep­re­sents a rea­son­able bar­gain as Beasley joined PSV back in 2004 for a fee of £1.5m after spend­ing four sea­sons with the Chicago Fire of MLS.

Rangers are also in talks with Wigan Ath­letic over the trans­fer of Scot­land inter­na­tional Lee McCul­loch. Rangers had a £750,000 offer for the 28-year-old for­ward rejected by Wigan in Jan­u­ary. The move would be a return to the SPL for McCul­loch, who joined Wigan from Moth­er­well in 2001. McCul­loch is cur­rently under con­tract to the Lat­ics until 2009.

Rangers have been busy in the trans­fer mar­ket as they look to close the gap on defend­ing champs Celtic as well as pre­pare for Cham­pi­ons League qual­i­fy­ing. Last sea­son was largely a write-off for Rangers as they stum­bled under man­ager Paul Le Guen before Scot­tish leg­end Wal­ter Smith took the reigns and guided them to sec­ond place. So far, Rangers have also signed Kil­marnock goal­keeper Graeme Smith on a free trans­fer and striker Jean-Claude Darcheville from Bor­deaux. The 31-year-old started his career with French side Stade Ren­nais FC before a one year stay at Not­ting­ham For­est that was largely unsuc­cess­ful. A move back to Ligue Une in 1999 saw him rebuild his car­rer with Lori­ent and Bor­deaux, scor­ing 80 goals in 226 appearances.

It’s a hec­tic off-season at Ibrox as Smith looks to strengthen and rebuild the squad he inher­ited from Le Guen. Other new sign­ings include Alan Gow, a for­ward from Falkirk, and Kirk Broad­foot, a defender from St Mir­ren. They are also chas­ing Bor­deaux winger Julien Faubert and Kil­marnock striker Steven Nai­smith. Among those mov­ing on from Rangers are Swedish defender Karl Svens­son who was sold to French club Caen for £670,000, mid­fielder Gavin Rae who signed for Cardiff City on a free and striker Dado Prso who quit the club because of his chronic knee pain. Prso does not intend to retire but will look for another club where the phys­i­cal demands are not so high.