Rangers have confirmed the signing of Monaco striker Dado Prso, beating off competition from Bolton who thought they had reached agreement to sign the Croatian.
Prso, who is out of contract with Monaco in the summer, will sign a three-year contract at Ibrox.
Rangers manager Alex McLeish told the club’s official website: “I’m absolutely delighted to have secured a player of his calibre.”
“I have watched Prso many times this season. He is very direct as a striker and he has a great presence, which is just what we need.
“The fact that he is in the running for the French championship, the Champions League and Euro 2004 tells you that the man has winning quality.”
A statement from Rangers read: “The club has shown a real determination to challenge for the honours again after a disappointing season and have done really well in fighting off stiff competition from many major clubs throughout Europe.”
The news was greeted with dismay, by Bolton boss Sam Allardyce who thought the player had already agreed to move to the Reebok Stadium.
“We’ve been chasing Dado Prso for a while and we managed to keep it quiet for the last eight weeks,” Allardyce told his club’s website.
“I’ll be very sad if he didn’t join us after he agreed terms six weeks ago.
“But I suppose, if Rangers have come in for him, and he went to them, I’d be extremely disappointed in more ways than one.
“I can’t believe after what we agreed that he’ll turn us down. That might be the measure of the man. We might not be quite big enough for him just yet.”