MOTHERWELL failed in an audacious bid to bring Rangers loan duo Haris Vuckic and Gael Bigirimana to Fir Park in the January transfer window.
Record Sport can reveal Well boss Ian Baraclough wanted the Newcastle stars to help bolster the Steelmen’s efforts to avoid the play-offs this season.
They came close to shoving a deal over the line before the Newcastle board pulled the plug on sending the Slovenian striker and the England Under-20 midfielder north of the border at the last minute.
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley owned a 8.92 per cent share in the Ibrox side and his associates Derek Llambias and Barry Leach were also serving on the Rangers board at that time.
The Premier League giants therefore decided that it would not be in their best interests
to loan the players to a rival Scottish club and a potential play-off opponent.
Their arrival was coloured with controversy with the five players signing on at Murray Park without the knowledge of then-caretaker manager Kenny McDowall and did not undergo medicals.
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Mbabu and Bigirimana have yet to feature in a Rangers squad whilst Streete played a measly 44 minutes before limping off injured in the 2-1 Scottish Cup defeat to Raith Rovers back in February – and hasn’t been seen since.
But 22-year-old Vuckic has been a revelation for the Govan side and has bagged nine vital goals in 20 appearances for the Light Blues.
WATCH: Our Play-off Final Preview.
Rangers boss Stuart McCall has indicated that he’s keen to make Vuckic’s switch from the Magpies a permanent one.
But a deal now looks unlikely as the war of words between Ashley and Rangers ahead of next month’s GM shows no signs of abating.
Gers and Well meet at Ibrox for the first leg of the play-off final tomorrow night before the return leg at Fir Park on Sunday afternoon.
And, in a cruel twist of fate for the Steelmen, Vuckic could be the man who seals their relegation – and ends their 28-year stay at Scottish football’s top table – when he lines up against them twice over the next four days.