West Brom look at cut-price Rangers duo

Scotland international goalkeeper Allan McGregor has emerged as a possible summer target for Albion if they fail to strike a permanent deal for Ben Foster.

The 30-year-old shot-stopper and Rangers team-mate Steven Naismith have been named in Scotland as potential signings for the Baggies, in cut-price deals because of the financial crisis at Ibrox.

And Hawthorns boss Roy Hodgson today refused to rule out a move for the duo – or for Ghana international Derek Boateng, a long-standing target who looks set to leave Ukranian side Dnipro this summer.

Hodgson said: "It is not anything we have discussed in detail but, of course, we know the players well.

"Everyone is being connected with Rangers players because they are in administration.

"Boateng is a name from the past. Before I came to the club Boateng was being discussed as a potential new signing and even last season his name was mentioned.

"It's nothing that we have got to grips with, as yet, because there are so many names, at the moment, in our scouting and recruitment.

Reports from Scotland claim McGregor and Naismith could be available for as little as £3.5m in total, after they agreed cut-price summer release clauses in exchange for taking wage cuts when the Glasgow club went into administration.

On-loan Foster remains Albion's first-choice goalkeeping target for the summer.

But Birmingham's asking price and a possible delay in a decision on his future, caused by Blues' ongoing fight for promotion from the Championship, are potential stumbling blocks to a long-term deal.

Naismith, meanwhile, looks set to move to England in the summer and his ability to operate as a winger could appeal to Albion, who are keen to add in wide areas in the summer.

Meanwhile, Hodgson is hoping Albion's success in recent seasons will reduce their fears of having their own stars cherry-picked by bigger-spending clubs.

He said: "I am hoping that the stronger we get ourselves and, the more we show ourselves to be a stable Premiership club, maybe the attraction of moving elsewhere will lessen with time."

See also:

• Clock-off culture has no place at Hawthorns

• Boateng could be back on The Hawthorns radar

• Baggies’ big £2.5m academy plan