Rangers move in for Sheringham

Alex McLeish, the Rangers manager, is making a move to take Teddy Sheringham to Glasgow on a free transfer.

Alex McLeish, the Rangers manager, is making a move to take Teddy Sheringham to Glasgow on a free transfer.

An ambitious bid for the former England striker – who has been told by Tottenham that they will not be renewing his contract for next season – is a strong possibility despite interest from newly promoted Portsmouth and Sheringham's first club, Millwall.

Sheringham's terms and suitability have been discussed at a top-level meeting at Rangers and the feelers are now going out. The move will come down to the wages on offer, but Rangers would come up with £20,000 a week for the right free agent.

An approach for Sheringham has already been made by the Portsmouth manager, Harry Redknapp, but Pompey will only move for him if Paul Merson leaves. Redknapp does not think he could accommodate both Sheringham and Merson in the one team, so his hands are tied on that idea at present.

Sheringham is free to speak to clubs at the moment and his agent claimed that there have been approaches from all over Europe, but Rangers could yet be the most attractive – and with Champions' League football a likelihood.

The one-time Manchester United striker has invaluable experience at the top level, famously scoring the equaliser during the victory over Bayern Munich in the European Cup final four years ago. And McLeish only has to ring his mentor, Sir Alex Ferguson, for a reference on Sheringham, who was still a Premiership regular until Spurs decided not to renew his deal.

The 37-year-old spent almost seven years with Millwall in the formative years of his career, and the Lions chairman, Theo Paphitis, has said he would do everything in his power to lure him back.

Sheringham would have to accept a large cut in wages to return to south London, but Paphitis said: "He knows there is a home for him at Millwall. We would bend over backwards to accommodate him, if that is what he decided he wanted to do. Of course we have had contact with him. We talk to him every week."

Millwall's cash-conscious manager, Mark McGhee, has already released five players and is still waiting for Steve Claridge to sign a new contract, but has refused to rule out a move for the former England international.

He said: "At the moment we can't afford Teddy Sheringham so there would have to be a certain amount of charity involved from Teddy's point of view, but it's not out of the question."

Sheringham scored 111 goals in 262 appearances for Millwall before signing for Nottingham Forest in a £2m deal in 1992.