Joey Barton & Rangers agree to terminate midfielder's contract

Midfielder Joey Barton has reached an agreement with Rangers to have his contract terminated.

The 34-year-old, whose deal was due to expire in 2018, played only eight games since joining from Burnley in May.

Barton was banned for six weeks by Rangers following a training ground altercation in September, and was signed off with stress on Tuesday.

He is also being investigated by the Scottish Football Association over alleged breaches of gambling rules.

Barton's relationship with manager Mark Warburton deteriorated after the training ground dispute - following a 5-1 defeat at Celtic - during which he said some "inappropriate things" to team-mate Andy Halliday.

On 20 September, the SFA said it was investigating Barton, who was alleged to have placed 44 bets between 1 July and 15 September. A ruling has yet to be made on the case.

Barton said two days later that he was "not going anywhere", but his initial three-week ban was extended to more than seven.

He returned to the club on 2 November and was ordered to train with the club's academy squad.

• 'Barton wilted under the heat at Ibrox'

• Collins: Barton talked too much and never produced

When Barton arrived at Ibrox on a free transfer, he described it as an opportunity "that if I didn't take, I would probably have regretted it for the rest of my life".

However, the former Manchester City, Newcastle, Marseille and QPR player, who won one England cap, failed to impress as Rangers made a stuttering start to the Scottish Premiership campaign following promotion last term.

Barton played five Premiership games for Rangers, who are third in the table - 11 points behind leaders Celtic.