Glasgow Rangers completed the record-breaking signing of Norwegian international striker Tore Andre Flo today. The Scottish champions have paid Chelsea £12m for the 27-year-old, who has put pen to paper on a four-and-a-half-year deal. That eclipses the previous Scottish transfer record of £6m - the fee Celtic paid Chelsea for striker Chris Sutton in the summer. Flo is expected to make his debut on Sunday in the Ibrox Old Firm derby with leaders Celtic. Chelsea had initially tried to block Rangers when they first made their move last week, with managing director Colin Hutchinson insisting they did not want to sell.
But once the player handed in a transfer request Rangers knew they were close to getting their man. Flo had become disillusioned with being excluded from the starting line-up at Stamford Bridge, especially after new manager Claudio Ranieri abandoned Luca Vialli's beloved rotation policy. And his Chelsea career ended with him having made just three starts this season.
He arrived in Glasgow yesterday to tie up the deal, and said: "I am a patient man but I did not want to be sitting on the bench at Chelsea for years." The deal was completed this morning after Flo passed a medical and the transfer represents a huge profit for Chelsea, who paid Norwegian club Brann just £300,000 in 1997.His signing means Rangers manager Dick Advocaat has at last managed to bring a high-profile striker to Ibrox. An £11million swoop for Espanyol's Raul Tamudo collapsed last month with Rangers claiming he could not pass a medical, a charge the player and selling club denied. In August, a £6million move for Wimbledon's John Hartson was scrapped when he too could not satisfy Rangers on medical grounds.
Filed by Seán Folan
