EXCLUSIVE: Two stars to depart Dundee as Dark Blues remain in contract talks with four more
The club, though, remain in contract discussions with four other players, including Josh Mulligan.
A number of contracts are expiring this week and Courier Sport understands talks are continuing over extensions.
Among those who are departing include Sylla and Portales, with both players moving on to new clubs.
Defensive midfielder Sylla was a fan favourite at Dens Park while Mexican defender Portales impressed in his two years in dark blue.
Scott Fraser, meanwhile, hasn't been offered an extension to his one-year contract following an injury-hit campaign.
Fraser exclusively told Courier Sport this week he may still join the Dark Blues for pre-season in hope of earning a fresh deal.
But there are also offers from 'five or six' others as he bids to prove his fitness ahead of next season.
His focus right now is on recovering from surgery to be ready for pre-season.
After unveiling their new coaching team headed up by Steven Pressley, Dundee are hoping to convince four of their out-of-contract stars to stick around.
Courier Sport revealed an offer had been made to skipper Joe Shaughnessy to retain his services.
Talks are also continuing with Scott Tiffoney, Charlie Reilly and Josh Mulligan.
Dundee are hopeful of convincing academy graduate Mulligan to stay but the 22-year-old has plenty of good options this summer.
League One sides Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle have been linked with a move for the Scotland U/21 international alongside Championship Oxford United.
Hull City, Blackburn and West Bromwich Albion have also been credited with interest, as have League Two Salford City.
Decisions on these extensions are expected within the next week with Dundee players reporting back for pre-season training in a seven days' time.
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Daily Record
2 hours ago
- Daily Record
Rangers made a massive mistake by not signing Josh Mulligan and their loss is Hibs' gain
From what I have seen from Mulligan so far, he has been an absolute standout at Easter Road It's a massive mistake from Rangers not to have signed Josh Mulligan. Their loss has been very much Hibs ' gain. Everyone knows that Rangers were in from Mulligan before their American-led takeover. That opened the door for Hibs. From what I have seen from him so far he has been an absolute standout at Easter Road. I thought he was brilliant against Livingston and in the European games, especially against Partizan Belgrade. His engine for 120 minutes against Partizan was outstanding. He was up and down the whole part of the game and had a real energy. He's just one of the guys you know what you're getting. He's really, really fit, talented and Scottish, which is great as well. I've liked him for a number of years at Dundee, from when they were down in the Championship and then won promotion back to the Premiership. He can play in numerous positions and he's got a great engine. The only real thing he was lacking was a finished product. But if he scores more goals like he did at the weekend then the Hibs fans will be delighted. Mulligan has made a brilliant start to his Hibs' career and hopefully it continues against Legia Warsaw in the Europa Conference League play-off. The first leg is at Easter Road on Thursday and that could be key. When you look at who Hibs have faced in Europe this season already, in Midtjylland and Partizan Belgrade, then I wouldn't imagine Legia Warsaw would be much better. It is probably a 50/50 tie although I would have the Poles as slight favourites because they have had more recent European experience. I certainly wouldn't like to go over to Legia needing to win the game. In saying that, I still fancy Hibs to go through. If they do, it would be a great achievement because they would have done it the hard way, getting into the group stages of European football for the first time. Obviously, Aberdeen winning the Scottish Cup was a spanner in the works for a lot of Hibs fans, in terms of getting guaranteed group stages. But if they go and do it this way then they would probably take more satisfaction from doing it this way, winning three big European ties and getting into the Conference League. It would be massive for the supporters and massive for the club. It's no secret that they've lost a few quid. I think the financial figures that are going to come out are not going to be great either, similar to last year. So qualification would give the club more of a sound financial footing as well as getting some money back in, depending on who they got in the group sections. Hibs will need to try and get a lead over there to take to Poland, but confidence is so high in the squad at the minute. David Gray changed half his team against Livingston and still won comfortably. It shows there is real confidence for places. The manager also managed to give his record signing, Thibault Klidje, a run out and he also scored. So everything is so positive at Hibs at the minute. Martin Boyle has been a real talisman for Hibs. You've seen it over in Belgrade, scoring a couple of goals in a really intimidating atmosphere. He seems to thrive in the bigger games. As I said, I was also impressed with Klidje against Livi. There's been a lot of screaming and shouting for him to be playing more minutes. But I just don't think he's been ready. Listen, it can be an instant judgment. Look at the boy Kusini Yengi at Aberdeen who was written off as a dud after two games. It would be similar if they put the boy Klidje in and if he wasn't very good at the start, people would make their minds up. So I think he's managed him well, he's let him get up to speed and he's let him settle in. There is competition up front but I would go with Kieron Bowie , who has been outstanding and Boyle. You could then bring Klidje on. The only really interesting selection for me is in the goalkeeping position. Raphael Sallinger came in against Livi. He looks great with the ball at his feet although he didn't have too much to do otherwise. Does the manager stay loyal to Jordan Smith or does he bring the boy Salinger in? I think he'll probably stay loyal to Smith, but I would probably change it. I would play the boy Salinger, but I think David Gray is big on loyalty and the boy Smith has done really well for him over the piece. For me, that is the only real decision that the manager has to make.
Scotsman
10 hours ago
- Scotsman
Russell Martin reassures his mum but prospect of Rangers qualifying for Champions League gives the shudders
Qualify first, worry later is Rangers' mantra for £40m showdown Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... When his own mother is sending texts enquiring about his welfare, it seems fair to wonder whether Russell Martin's first two months as Rangers manager have gone well or otherwise. One look at the league table would suggest no, things have not been going well. Martin says he has soothed his mother's fears. But while he might be eating his greens and cleaning behind his ears, the fact remains that Rangers are already four points behind Celtic having drawn their opening two games against Motherwell and Dundee. Martin has already had to question whether some players are all ego and too little substance. He has also been booed by his own fans while making substitutions. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad On the up side, here he is, preparing to face a two-legged shootout with Club Brugge at a packed Ibrox for the right to enter the Champions League. Rangers have negotiated two tricky ties against Panathinaikos and Viktoria Plzen and are one more admittedly slightly trickier tie away from the promised land. It could be worth up to £40m to Rangers. Rangers head coach Russell Martin during his pre-match press conference ahead of facing Club Brugge in the Champions League play-off first leg at Ibrox. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group) | SNS Group Qualify first, worry later Are the Ibrox club ready for the Champions League? That's another question. Let's get there first and worry about it later was the gist of Martin's reply. It's possible to remember Giovanni van Bronckhorst saying something vaguely similar three years ago on the eve of a play-off clash against PSV Eindhoven. Rangers qualified, were quickly cast as patsies in a strong group made up by Liverpool, Napoli and Ajax and finished with the ignominious title of worst-ever Champions League team at this stage. Van Bronckhorst, despite having taken Rangers to the heights of the Europa League final the previous season, was gone by the end of the year. He'd been ill-served by qualifying for Europe's blue riband club football tournament at a time when Rangers were in a post-Europa League final reset. It's easy to imagine Martin's mother's anxiety for her son being appropriate were Rangers to reach the Champions League stage. Albeit it's a less punitive format now - two more games, potentially less formidable opponents along with the big guns. Having failed to beat both Dundee and Motherwell, one shudders at what the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Paris St Germain might do to a Rangers side who are still in the early stages of their overhaul under Martin. It was the obvious question to ask the manager, given everything. What if? What if they actually do it? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Someone asked me if we've got the squad depth and all that to sustain it, if we need to worry about it. I think let's try and get in there first and qualify,' he replied. 'We're building a squad that has to compete in Europe, whether it's Europa League or the Champions League. So I think it would be incredibly exciting. "It would help us a lot as a football club moving forward," he added. "Not just financially, but what it would do for the players and their belief. And to then pit yourself against some of the best teams in the world would be a brilliant opportunity for us. So we're here to try and attack it as much as we can.' Rangers head coach Russell Martin on the training pitch ahead of the Champions League play-off first leg against Club Brugge at Ibrox. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group) | SNS Group 'Don't worry, mum' He seems to be relishing the challenges so far, despite the initial difficulties. He volunteered the information about his mother, who, hopefully, is not logging into the major Rangers fans' forums. Of course, such places that seem to exist in a state of perpetual hysteria are not necessarily areas to find rational assessment. Nevertheless, the booing which met the manager's decision to take off Lyall Cameron and then send on Kieran Dowell against Dundee two weekends ago was a signal that even rank-and-file Rangers fans are unconvinced by Martin's methods. 'I have a lot of people message me who read message boards and stuff who are concerned about me, and they just don't have to be,' he smiled. 'I keep telling my mum, 'Don't worry about it! It's all good. I'm enjoying it'.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad On the eve of such a high-octane match, he has urged his players to try and forget the riches at stake and enjoy it. Too many performances to date under him have been hindered by evident tension. He has also told his staff to drink it in. 'I appreciate the honour of managing this club every day and the gratitude I feel for that,' he said. 'So let's have that in the building. I said that to the staff as well. So many of them support the club but I think they've lost a bit of joy of being here and working here. Let's get back to that. Let's understand how big this is and how brilliant it could be and focus on what we can control and that is playing with so much energy tomorrow and feeding off it.' Russell Martin has guided Rangers through two tricky Champions League qualifying ties against Panathinaikos and Viktoria Plzen. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group) | SNS Group Celtic the priority The aggregate victories over Panathinaikos and Plzen were big wins. However, Martin needs bigger ones. Overcoming Brugge would qualify as this, as would beating Celtic at the end of this month. In fact, while succeeding in both assignments is the ideal, most fans, given the choice, would select beating Celtic as the priority. Then there's St Mirren, the game bookended by the Brugge legs. It has now been restored to the fixture calendar because Rangers could not risk handing their rivals the chance to establish a seven-point lead going into Old Firm week. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Of course, Celtic could still do that – they face Livingston the day before Rangers travel to face St Mirren, which is a tough test at the best of times. But the decision by the Rangers board to rescind their request to postpone the clash in Paisley is indicative of some early panic at Ibrox. It's also to allow defender Nasser Djiga to serve out his suspension following a red card v Dundee and leave him free to face Celtic.
The Sun
12 hours ago
- The Sun
Brutal Morecambe SACK manager just hours after dramatically avoiding extinction
MORECAMBE have sacked manager Derek Adams just hours after avoiding extinction. The club have been in crisis since being relegated from League Two last season. 1 They were saved following the takeover by Panjab Warriors Ltd. And their first act has been to fire Adams, who was a popular figure in the dugout. Adams has spent the past few weeks working for the club without pay. He has had three spells in the dugout at Morecambe and led the club to promotion to League One in 2021 - the highest level the club has ever played at. The club thanked Adams for his contribution in a statement saying they want to move in a different direction. A statement reads: "Morecambe Football Club can confirm that we have parted ways with Derek Adams. "Morecambe Football Club, now proudly backed by Panjab Warriors would like to extend its sincere gratitude to Derek Adams for the leadership and steadiness he brought to the club during a testing chapter for the club. "His return instilled direction and purpose, helping guide Morecambe into League One for the first time in their history and stabilized the team under immense pressure. "As the club enters a new era, a strategic transition in leadership, has been made with respect and appreciation for Derek's services. "We wish Derek Adams every success in his future endeavours." Morecambe have been restored to the National League but their fixtures against Brackley Town and Boston United were postponed. The Shrimps are due to play their first National League game of the season at home against Altrincham FC on August 23. If the 105-year-old Lancs club was not sold by August 20, they faced being kicked out of the league and potentially going extinct altogether.
