KYLE Lafferty's £3million cash-plus-player sale to Glasgow Rangers hinges on Alan Gow agreeing personal terms with Burnley.

Attacking midfielder Gow travelled south of the border yesterday for preliminary talks with Clarets chairman Barry Kilby, as well as a tour of Turf Moor and the Gawthorpe training ground, after both clubs agreed a deal for Burnley's Northern Ireland international.

I understand Lafferty is happy with the contract on offer at Ibrox, while Gow is believed to be sleeping on' the prospect of becoming Burnley manager Owen Coyle's first permanent signing.

Kilby felt the early stages of negotiations went well, but although he doesn't anticipate any problems, any move would be on hold until Gow agrees personal terms.

The 25-year-old was said to be intent on fighting for his place at Rangers after making only two appearances last season.

"Alan wants to give it another go. He'll be reporting for pre-season training," revealed his agent, Phil McTaggart.

But the chance to be reunited with Coyle, who was his team-mate at former club Airdrie United at the same time that Burnley's assistant boss Sandy Stewart was in charge, could have the casting vote.

Should the transfers go ahead, Coyle would have his transfer kitty bolstered by some of the money from Northern Ireland internat-ional Lafferty's sale, which would set a new record for the club following the £1.75m received for Ade Akinbiyi from Sheffield United in January 2006.

However, Kilby revealed a portion of the fee would go towards the day-to-day running of the club to help recoup a £4million loss.

"It makes us more liquid and gives us money towards transfers, but some has to go towards the working of the club as well," said Kilby.

"But it means there is more room for manoeuvre for the manager (in the transfer market)."

Should Gow sign, Kilby hopes the Scotland B international's capture would be the catalyst for a summer of strengthening.

"Two clubs have agreed terms but the two players involved have still got to agree contracts with the respective clubs, so that's one thing we've got to get through first, although I don't anticipate any problems," continued the Clarets chairman.

"(Alan) would be a new signing that we think is a good one, and then we can start to catch the other fish we've been casting bait for.

"We've got several irons out. My experience tells me that it starts to hot up towards the back end of June.

"Alan is very keen. He went to Rangers but he's been on the sidelines and he's very anxious, at this stage of his career, to get out onto the pitch.

"Supporters there felt he didn't quite get the chance he deserved.

"But he's not our player yet. It's by no means a gimme'."

Kilby added that he was reluctant to sell Lafferty, but felt the package which also includes £250,000 payable on appearances and a 10 per cent of any future profit in a sell-on clause, represented good business for the Clarets, particularly after the 20-year-old stated his intention to leave in an interview with a Belfast newspaper last month.

"I wanted Kyle to be up front scoring goals for Burnley, but once he made the remarks he did it made it harder," said Kilby.

"We had several clubs courting Kyle, but once we got over £3million it made sense for us to consider letting him go and start rebuilding.

"It happened to us at Christmas with Andy Gray. We want players to be committed to us, we won't just let them walk away. But once we got an offer like this from Rangers we had to think about it.

"It's a frustration, but it's the way of football.

"Agents particularly have an interest in moving players around because that's when they make their big hit on the money.

"There's a contract for one but if the other part of the contract doesn't like it they start making noises and you've got to get out of it.

"We had cash-plus-player offers from three other clubs - Ipswich came in quite late - but they were all considerably below this (Rangers) one.

"This is a good price really for a player where you are buying potential rather than the proven article."

Although Burnley's own bids have been rebuffed for players including Hearts' left winger Andrew Driver and Scunthorpe striker Martin Paterson, Kilby was reluctant to reveal how close the club was to landing other targets.

"As a club we like to play our hand as we see fit," said Kilby.

But he admitted he hoped the money from Lafferty's imminent sale would help to keep the club a competitive force in the Championship.

"You always have to keep a watchful eye on a club that's losing £4million a year," he said.

"The big thing is maintaining a very high wage bill that we've got.

"Out of the 44 Premier League and Championship teams there is only one other team who has a higher wage to turnover than we have."