Cash fears delay SPL signings; Stewart Fisher finds the Premierleague

KEEPING count of the number of SPL players with contracts set to expire during the summer has become one of Scottish football's more grisly annual rituals. Experts say almost a third of the entire professional workforce north of the border were at least temporarily out of work at the end of last season, but even by those standards, the fact that it is easier to count players at clubs like Livingston and Kilmarnock whose contracts run beyond 2004 suggests it could be a long summer ahead.

A unique set of circumstances - the increase of short-term deals, uncertainty about TV budgets while due diligence is carried out on the Setanta deal, contractual implications of administration, and the continuing diminishing of squad sizes - have conspired to make a manager's ability to get good value from his Bosman signings more important than ever.

Certain managers and players may still be mulling over new contract extensions, but research conducted by the Sunday Herald suggests the SPL alone is on target to have 100 first-team squad members out of contract this summer.

"A lot of clubs have players who are out of contract and they would like to sign for next season but they don't know what their budget will be yet because of the Setanta deal," said SPFA assistant secretary Fraser Wishart. "Our final list isn't actually compiled until the end of May, but the figures may be high because of this."

No matter how many players are finally given freedom of contract, it is inevitable that a couple of previously discarded players will go on to burnish their reputation.

Whether it was Davie Hay, or Marcio Maximo, who sanctioned their arrivals, to glean such consistency from Derek Lilley, Scotland Future squad cap Jamie McAllister, and former Hearts reserve goalkeeper Roddy McKenzie, illustrates the riches that can go unnoticed. All three are back on the market next summer, and should find no shortage of takers.

Along with Motherwell's Derek Adams and Steven Craig, Lilley is currently being tracked by Aberdeen, while McKenzie is thought to have been earmarked to fill the goalkeeping vacancy created by the imminent departure of Francois Dubourdeau and Colin Meldrum from Kilmarnock. The Rugby Park club have revealed that they plan to re- sign injury-jinxed Paul di Giacomo, while Dunfermline remain hopeful of holding on to Craig Brewster. Hearts and Motherwell are both trying to re-sign as many of this season's players as possible, despite budget cuts. Partick already have 20 players signed up for next season, but risk losing their best players - James Grady and David Rowson - for a second successive season.

The Old Firm are no longer immune from shopping in such markets. In enlisting Jean-Alain Boumsong from Auxerre, Alex Rae from Wolves, and Marvin Andrews from Livingston, Rangers have already shown they are active both home and abroad. And for all the talk of the imminent arrival of a "(pounds) 3m striker", agents suggest the likelihood of Alex McLeish having a one-off (pounds) 3m transfer fee to lavish on a player remains somewhat dreamy.

With Monaco's Dado Prso understood to favour either a move to Bolton this summer, or signing a new deal at the burgeoning European force his present club have become, it appears more likely that McLeish will use that cash to fund a Bosman striker from closer to home such as Leicester City's on-loan Marcus Bent or Dunfermline's Stevie Crawford.

Other interesting options are enlisting a top foreign loan player such as Inter Milan's Obafemi Martins or, for roughly the same financial package over a three-year period, finding a fee for the likes of Dundee's Nacho Novo or Wolves pair Henri Camara and Carl Cort.

"The main problem is getting the other guys from Europe to go to Scotland," said Monaco-based agent Willie Mackay. "The reason Rangers got Boumsong was that Liverpool offered (pounds) 30,000 a week and Rangers (pounds) 45,000."

Martin O'Neill, on the other hand, who is facing up to losing Henrik Larsson and Johan Mjallby, may be tempted to enter the market for his former pupil Muzzy Izzet, although Birmingham are also understood to be interested.

For agent Jim McArthur, the biggest problem is persuading clients to adjust to a new financial environment, which sees estimates for average annual SPL salaries outwith the Old Firm ranging between (pounds) 30,000 and (pounds) 75,000. "What's happened in the last two of three years is that the money has gone down and the guys have just got to accept it," he said. "In the past players could have said 'well I will just up and leave', but where do you leave to now?"

Some, such as John O'Neil and Russell Latapy last season, will no doubt drop into the First Division. A few others, perhaps Hibs' Grant Brebner and Hearts' Scott Severin, will find new homes south of the border. They will be the lucky ones.

WHO'S UP FOR GRABS?

First-team SPL squad players whose contracts expire this summer Aberdeen: Scott Booth, David Zdrilic, Kevin Rutkiewicz, Ryan Esson, Craig Higgins, Richard Buckley, Scott Michie (on-loan to Montrose).