IMPOSSIBLE

Skrtel’s agent: Gerrard wants Martin but Ibrox board can’t afford him

MARTIN SKRTEL’S agent last night insisted the veteran’s move to Ibrox is dead in the water because Rangers are finding it “impossible” to finance. Slovak

FROM BACK PAGE dealmaker Karol Csonto has confirmed his client was initially contacted by Steven Gerrard in the days before he was presented as the club’s new boss.

Talks had been ongoing ever since as Gerrard attempted to land his No.1 target. But Csonto has now pulled the plug on those discussions, ending any prospect of the 33-year-old leaving Fenerbahce for Scotland.

He has revealed Rangers only offered to pay his man a fraction of his £60,000a-week contract – and that after holding talks with his Turkish counterpart managing director Stewart Robertson could not get close to matching the club’s price tag of around £5million.

Csonto admitted the two clubs were “far apart” in terms of their valuation on Slovakian TV on Tuesday night.

But speaking exclusively to Record Sport yesterday he went one step further when he confessed the entire deal is now as good as dead in the water.

Csonto said: “Martin would be very happy to play under Steven but sometimes, regarding transfers, you need to put so many things together and in this situation it’s impossible.

“When there is only a small difference then you can find a solution.

“But in this case the salary of the player in Turkey is four or five times more than what Rangers could offer. That makes it impossible.

“Also, Fenerbahce will never let him go because he is their most important player and they need him for the Champions League qualification. That means at this moment the deal would cost five or six million euros minimum. And the salary is very different.”

Record Sport revealed on the day of Gerrard’s unveiling he hoped to recruit his old Anfield team-mate. And he was in no way deterred by Skrtel’s megabucks wages of around £3m a year.

Csonto said: “Steven tried to make it happen but he had no idea about the financial situation of the player.

“He is trying to get the best players possible and that’s why he spoke to Martin about this. But unfortunately it’s going to be impossible.

“Steven spoke to Martin about it before he went to Rangers.

“Eventually the chief executives of the clubs did speak about a transfer but they both agreed the difference between them is too much.”