£440,000

Ferguson

BLACKBURN Rovers would have received just £440,000 had they accepted Rangers' bid for Barry Ferguson.

That's the astonishing figure Rangers chairman David Murray was hoping to pay for a player he valued at £6.5 million only 17 months ago.

The Scottish giants made what they considered to be a 'fair and reasonable' offer when they tabled a bid of £3 million for the Scotland captain on Wednesday afternoon.

However, I can reveal that figure included the £2.56 million payment Rangers claim Rovers still owe them for the 26-year-old - which means Mark Hughes and the Blackburn board would have stood to receive less than £500,000 in actual cash for their influential skipper.

Not surprisingly, that bid was subsequently rejected and now it looks as though Ferguson will stay at Ewood at least until the summer, unless Rangers significantly up the ante before the window closes.

"We don't want to sell Barry and thank goodness Rangers have decided not to put in any kind of challenging offer," said Rovers' chief executive John Williams today.

Rangers insist they are not prepared to go above £3 million for their former captain but Murray has still not abandoned all hope of landing Ferguson before the end of the month.

"The bottom line is we would be delighted to have Barry back for £3m, but we don't want to get into a Dutch auction," said the Rangers chairman.

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"The player has intimated to his current club that he is unhappy and wants to leave and return to Rangers.

"Blackburn still owe us £2.56m and it's up to them whether or not they want to do a deal, but we are not prepared to spend any more.

"If the deal is not done a week before the window closes, we will be signing another midfielder.

"We have offered what we believe is a realistic fee for a player who will become a Bosman by the end of next year and who has recovered from a serious injury.

"It is like Boumsong in reverse. The market is not the same as it was when Blackburn signed Barry and the residual value of a player in his situation depreciates by more than £1m per year.

"They may say they paid more for him (£6.5m) but the market has changed.

"He can't be worth the same now, but it's up to Blackburn.

"Also, Barry has suffered a very serious injury since he went south and he will be a free agent and available for nothing at the end of next year.

"If they refuse to sell him, then they risk keeping hold of a very unhappy player who might just dig his heels in.

"Barry can sit and see out his contract there. Blackburn have to judge whether the boy means it."

Hughes though hit back today and reiterated that Ferguson is not for sale.

He said: "The situation with Barry is there's been a lot of speculation, and we've had a bid from Rangers. We've refused that bid and going by what their chairman has said, that's the end of it because Ferguson is not for sale."

In the meantime, Hughes believes Robbie Savage could become a Blackburn player at some point this weekend after a deal moved a step closer last night.

Rovers have made a third bid for the Welsh international midfielder and they are now waiting to hear an answer from the Blues.

Further talks were held between the two clubs yesterday and Rovers have now offered a guaranteed £2.5 million for the 30-year-old with a further £500,000 on top, subject to appearances and final league positions.

Birmingham were initially adamant that Savage was not for sale but they are now coming to the conclusion that a move may be in the interests of both parties.

However, talk of Michael Gray being included as a makeweight in the deal has no foundation.

Savage is unlikely to feature in Birmingham's squad to face Charlton tomorrow.

"Keep it going'