No hitch in Wilson deal

According to reports on Thursday, the SPL club are holding out for an improved offer for their star defender.

Liverpool will have to pay £5 million if they want to sign Rangers' young defender Danny Wilson. According to reports in the Daily Record on Thursday, the English Premier League side have been told they will not be able to sign the player for a fee below the Ibrox club's valuation.

It is said by the newspaper that Liverpool were prepared to pay £3 million for the Scottish player's services, having had a £2 million offer rejected earlier in May.

Rangers reportedly won't accept any less than £5 million for their prized asset, who could leave for next to nothing in the summer of 2011 if no club matches his value this summer.

Wilson turned down a contract offer to stay in Glasgow as the season drew to a close. His current deal with the club is due to expire in the summer of 2011, meaning Rangers would receive only a nominal amount of training compensation in a year's time.

It had been reported by some earlier in the week a hitch regarding the English top flight's new limitations on squad sizes may have led to the Wilson deal collapsing altogether. However, STV Sport's understanding is the ruling will have no impact on any possible transfer.

Introduced from next season, all clubs in the English Premier League have agreed to limit their player pools to 25, with eight of the players having to be classed as 'homegrown'. To qualify for that status, a player has to have spent a minimum of three years at any English or Welsh club while under the age of 21.

With Wilson still 18, Liverpool would be able to buy the central defender and, in three years time, have him as one of their 'homegrown' players. But in the meantime, he would still be able to play for the club without affecting their quota, despite reports he would be would be classed as one of his prospective team's foreign players.

The rules of the new system stipulate that all players under the age of 21 are not included in the 25-man limit. Therefore, Liverpool can still sign and play Wilson without losing a spot for one of their clutch of overseas stars.

Even more crucially, having then spent three years on Merseyside, he would then be deemed as a 'homegrown' player for the club upon his 21st birthday.

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.