Rangers have signed United States international midfield player Claudio Reyna in a #2m- plus deal which was agreed with two German clubs before the transfer deadline on Wednesday, writes Ken Gallacher.
Reyna was on loan to Vfl Wolfsburg, where former Celtic and Aberdeen defender Brian O'Neil now plays, while his registration was still held by Bayer Leverkusen.
Rangers bought out the remain- ing portion of his contract with Wolsburg - he was there until the end of this season - at a cost of just more than #500,000 and gave Leverkusen a further sum of close to #1.75m to complete the deal.
Wolfsburg general manager Peter Pander confirmed: ''Rangers wanted to have the player immediately as they had a transfer deadline to meet in Scotland, so they have payed both ourselves and Bayer Leverkusen.
''Everything was put in position very quickly to allow the player to be registered.''
The transfer documents were with the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Premier League before the Wednesday night cut-off time though inter-national clearance has still to arrive.
Ironically, after Celtic's victory over the SFA in the Jorge Cadete saga which led to the dismissal of chief executive Jim Farry last month, that minor piece of paperwork will be back-dated to coincide with the transfer documen- tation from the clubs which has been provided and deemed to be in order.
Reyna has been capped more than 60 times for the USA, played in France during the World Cup finals, and impressed Rangers coach Dick Advocaat when the Ibrox team met the
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United States' national side in a closed-door game on their winter break in Florida in January.
Because of the injuries to both Barry and Ian Ferguson, Advocaat moved swiftly to bring in Reyna, as well as defender Craig Moore, to bolster his squad for the title run-in.
The American, who captained Wolfsburg earlier this season, has spent almost four years in the Bundesliga and is highly rated in German footballing circles as a midfield play-maker.
''This is the offer of my life,'' Reyna said yesterday of his move to Glasgow.
q Mols a bargain - Page 46
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