Naismith makes late Rangers move

Rangers have finally signed striker Steven Naismith from Kilmarnock for a fee of £1.9m.

The Ibrox club failed with repeated offers for the 20-year-old over the summer but got their man in the final few minutes of the transfer window.

Naismith submitted then withdrew a transfer request at Rugby Park and has performed well for Killie this term.

Rangers claimed they had dropped their interest in the SPFA Young Player of the Year but nipped in with a late bid.

Sandy Bryson, head of the Scottish FA's registration department, confirmed that paperwork confirming the deal was complete arrived by fax at Hampden at 23.59 BST, beating the midnight deadline.

Naismith, who bagged 19 goals last season, has been on target once already during this campaign - in the 3-0 CIS Cup win at Peterhead.

And he turned in a good performance against Rangers in the 2-1 loss to the league leaders at Rugby Park last weekend.

Celtic enquired about a possible move for Naismith in late July but Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies claimed the Scottish champions then failed to follow up a verbal offer.