That now paves the way for manager Alex McLeish to table a bid for the Motherwell and Scotland star after making tentative enquiries.

But they also face stiff competition for his services after an English club slapped in an offer for the talented youngster last week.

Old Firm rivals Celtic are also believed to be weighing up a swoop, but Motherwell are giving very little away.

A spokesman told the Press Association: “There’s been lots of speculation about James McFadden and other players at Motherwell.

“As is the case with all players any enquiry about them will be dealt with as and when it happens.

“It would be wrong for Motherwell to join that speculation.”

Rangers were forced to pull out of the race to sign the Argentinean striker because of the trouble involved in the move.

Manager Alex McLeish and director of football business Martin Bain travelled to Buenos Aires last weekend to watch the 22-year-old score five goals in Rosario Central’s 7-2 win over Boca Juniors.

That prompted the club to make an immediate offer but various issues have combined for Rangers to change their mind.

“We went out to Argentina hopeful of securing Luciano Figueroa on our terms,” said Bain. “Alex did like the player and we saw him score five times.

“In between having discussions in Argentina and coming home where we continued our dialogue there was a lot of toing and froing with various different parties becoming involved.

“Taking everything into consideration, the amount of money involved, the various bids from other parties and the fact that he has just been called up for international duty and is liable to play in next year’s Olympics we decided to withdraw our offer.”