COLIN Hendry's transfer to Rangers should go through later today or tomorrow, with a compromise deal having been negotiated between the Scottish club and Blackburn Rovers for around £3.75 million, writes PETER WHITE.

But any suggestions that the money will be used to fund a British record-breaking £16 million bid for Aston Villa striker Dwight Yorke were dismissed out of hand at Ewood today.

Rovers' chief executive John Williams was not in a position to add much to the Hendry situation this morning, except to say positive discussions had taken place and "some progress has been made".

But I understand from impeccable Scottish sources that the two clubs are on the verge of striking a deal.

The fee is understood to be around the £3.75 million mark, which is just about halfway between the valuation placed on Hendry by Rovers and last week's Rangers bid of £2.5 million which was rejected.

It will have seen both clubs back off from their original stance but that was inevitable if the deadlock - which was of little constructive use to any of the parties involved - was to be broken. Rovers were left without a key player. For, even though Hendry would have rejoined the squad for training today, it is difficult to see how manager Roy Hodgson could have used a player who wanted to leave.

Hendry's heart is now clearly elsewhere, as he had made up his mind to move to Glasgow for family reasons.

And Rangers are desperate to sign someone they see as an inspirational capture as he is also captain of Scotland at the moment.

Their need for Hendry no doubt increased after yesterday's false start to the League campaign.

Manager Dick Advocaat made his feelings plain afterwards when he said: "The time for a decision has come.

"It has to be a yes or no within the next 24 hours. At the moment, I still don't know what's going to happen but we have to know very soon."

I believe he will be told "Yes" very shortly. The Scottish club were reluctant to increase their original offer for the player, who will be 33 in December, but have had to come to terms with the fact that, without some substantial movement, there would have been no deal.

Rovers too have had to compromise.

They have been accused of demanding an inflated fee for the player.

Hodgson, however, had a point when he said if Hendry had been auctioned off to Premiership clubs during the summer they might well have got more than the £5.15 million asking price.

Besides, Rovers are still aggrieved that they did nothing to instigate the transfer, believing their squad was intact and preparing for the new season when Rangers came along and disrupted things.

Meanwhile, a Sunday newspaper report that Rovers and Tottenham had joined in the chase for Villa striker Yorke and had made a £16 million bid was rubbished.

"Jack Walker does want big-name players at Ewood but we have not made a £16 million bid," said Mr Williams.

"It would not be fair to the fans to pretend otherwise and we also have to consider the people we deal with inside the game. "This story is just not true."

Australian trialist Simon Colosimo has returned home after two weeks at Ewood to join a training camp for his country's under-20 squad.

The 19-year-old defender, however, is expected to return to Blackburn at some stage in the future.

Roy Hodgson said: "He has had to go back but we hope to look at him again."

Colosimo played in a reserve friendly against Clitheroe but picked up a knock which hindered his chances of making a good impression.

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