Derby County are the new favourites to sign Glasgow Rangers midfielder Joey Barton, who is expected to have his Ibrox contract terminated imminently.
Derby County are the new favourites to sign Glasgow Rangers midfielder Joey Barton, having been behind both Burnley and Aston Villa on Wednesday evening.
Since then, the Rams have had their odds cut from 5/1 to 5/4 by bookmakers Sky Bet, with a report in this morning’s Sun newspaper perhaps explaining the sudden surge of bets.
The tabloid states that Barton has been offered the chance to train with Derby with a view to a January transfer, having been coached by Rams boss Steve McClaren, who handed him his one and only England cap, at QPR.
That said, the same source – and in fact, the same reporter, Alan Nixon – claimed earlier this week that Derby were close to signing a different midfielder, Diego Poyet.
Since then, Poyet has played down the reports on Twitter, insisting he has not been training with the Rams, who he describes as being ‘a great football club’.
Interestingly, Poyet is now being tipped to replace Barton at Ibrox, once Rangers have confirmed the Liverpudlian’s departure, after a two-month suspension.
As ever with Barton, the prospect of his arrival seems to have split opinion. Here’s what Derby fans have been saying about the matter on Twitter:
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