Aberdeen will demand to see the colour of Rangers’ money before granting the Ibrox club permission to speak with Derek McInnes.
Rangers are expected to finally approach the Dons this week with a view to kicking off negotiations with the 46-year-old about the possibility of succeeding Pedro Caixinha as their next permanent manager.
Sportsmail understands, however, that Aberdeen will only sanction the talks if Rangers pay the stipulated £800,000 compensation figure up front – with the money being returned to them if negotiations break down further down the line.
Derek McInnes is expected to become the subject of an official approach from Rangers
Ibrox sources insist the level of compensation, which will rise to over £1million if McInnes’ assistant Tony Docherty joins him at Ibrox, is within their reach.
Almost six weeks after Caixinha was fired, Rangers are finally preparing to make their move for the man who played for them between 1995 and 2000.
Frustrated that the matter hasn’t progressed since he was first linked with the post, the Dons boss took a swipe at the Ibrox club for their handling of the matter after his side lost to Rangers for the second time in four days on Sunday.
While it seems likely that Rangers will be granted permission to speak with McInnes in the coming days, issues over staffing structures, proposed budgets and expectations mean his appointment is by no means cut and dried.
Although a return to his boyhood heroes holds an obvious emotional pull, the former St Johnstone and Bristol City manager has never made any secret of how much he prizes the relationship he enjoys with Dons chairman Stewart Milne.
Widely believed to be a shoo-in for the Sunderland job in the summer after the Black Cats kicked off talks with him, McInnes opted to stay in the Granite City.
Rangers overcame Aberdeen 2-1 on Sunday afternoon in the Scottish Premiership
Five months on, Rangers will have to guarantee him adequate time and resources to challenge Celtic if he’s to agree to draw a line under his four-year tenure in the North East.
Speaking after his side delivered another sub-standard display in the 2-1 loss to 10-men Rangers at Pittodrie on Sunday, McInnes made his feelings on the saga clear.
He stated: I’m not happy with how things have been played out. It hasn’t been as straightforward as it should have been over the last few weeks.’
Dons legend Willie Miller last night hit out at the circumstances McInnes has been forced to contend with in the weeks since Caixinha was shown the door.
‘It is a ridiculous amount of speculation the Dons manager has had to work under and his players have had to cope with,’ he said.
Aberdeen keeper Joe Lewis claims speculation over McInnes future hasn’t affected the team
‘Speculation is not going away and is coming more forcefully than ever.
‘I thought it would have died when McInnes made the statement recently to quash the rumours about Rangers, but it is back with a vengeance.
‘The latest within Ibrox is that there will be some news coming and at least one way or another it will finally end the speculation.’
Miller believes the situation has affected Aberdeen’s preparations for two crucial matches against their arch rivals.
‘It has not allowed the managers and players to get on with the job in hand without having this cloud of speculation and having to face the same questions over and over again,’ he added.
‘Rangers cannot allow the situation to drag on longer as it then makes the Ibrox board look like they don’t know what they are doing.’
Former Rangers skipper Barry Ferguson is reportedly in the frame to be McInnes’ first-team coach if the deal goes through.
Rangers meanwhile will appeal the red card Ryan Jack received during Sunday’s win at Pittodrie.
The midfielder was dismissed by referee Willie Collum for following through on a tackle with Stevie May.
But the Ibrox club have lodged an appeal with the SFA with a fast track hearing set to be heard on Thursday — ahead of Saturday’s game with Ross County.
The 25-year-old, who joined from Aberdeen in the summer, has now seen red on four separate occasions this season although two of those – against Hibernian and Kilmarnock – were successfully appealed.