HOT PROPERTY

Rangers to battle Celtic and Stoke for Doughty signature

CELTIC and Rangers are both keen to strike a pre- contract agreement with sought- after Charlton Athletic youngster Alfie Doughty.

But the prospect of an Old Firm tug-ofwar could be thwarted by Stoke City, as the English Championship club look to follow up on a £650,000 offer submitted earlier this week.

While Stoke are targeting an immediate move for Doughty, Sportsmail understands the interest from Parkhead and Ibrox has so far been aimed at tempting the player to Glasgow when his contract at The Valley expires in June.

Celtic are long-time admirers of the pacy 21-year-old — who can play left-wing or left-back — and saw bids for him rejected during the last transfer window.

Rangers’ rival interest is more recent, although the Ibrox club have successfully raided Charlton in the past through their 2019 move for Joe Aribo. The South London outfit only earned around £300,000 in cross-border compensation for Aribo and are eager to avoid a repeat of that situation by selling Doughty for a bigger fee this month.

The player would, however, have the

final call on any move. Stoke are the front-runners in terms of his English options and the package they have put forward remains under discussion. ‘If Alfie does leave then it will have to be the right thing for the football club,’ said Charlton manager Lee Bowyer. ‘No one player is bigger than the football club — and Alfie is no different. ‘Alfie’s agent has told us he won’t sign a new deal and I’m disappointed with that. But that’s his decision, that’s his choice — we understand that.’ Doughty is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury and is not expected to return to action until next month. Meanwhile, Borna Barisic has revealed that Rangers’ players s have banned title talk in the dressing room as Steven Gerrard’s side close in on the club’s first Premiership triumph in ten years. Their weekend 1-0 Old Firm win opened a 19-point gap at the top of the table, albeit with h Celtic holding three games in hand. Gerrard has insisted Rangers have a long way to go before they start to think about winning the league. And the message has certainly got through to his pla players, with Barisic (left) offe offering an insight into their me mentality. ‘W ‘We won three important points, b but we are not talking about w winning the title,’ he told Cr Croatian media. ‘W ‘We don’t have that way of think thinking, we just concentrate on the nex next game and try to win it. ‘We go from game to game and that’s our method of trying to win the championship.

‘I can’t say anything else, because that’s really the truth. ‘After the game, there was no celebration, no talk about the title, there was nothing. ‘The only thing we discussed was our next match. ‘The fans have been waiting for a decade and will be the happiest in the world if we win the title. However, that’s the angle from the fans and it’s not them who are playing, it’s us. It’s the players who must do it and we must not lose our focus.’