Joey Barton signed off from training with ‘stress’ as Rangers seek to seal his exit with pay off

Considering he's hardly kicked a ball for them, Joey Barton's Rangers career has been pretty eventful to date.

An Old Firm battering at the hands of Celtic; a gambling charge from the SFA; a training ground bust-up with a teammate and subsequent ban suspension... It's been quite a few months since the 34-year-old moved north of the border during the summer. Thank God then, that the suspension was finally lifted last week - allowing Joey to get back to the training ground and crack on with his Rangers career. But sadly for the former Manchester City midfielder, things haven't gone to plan. Just days after his return to club training, Barton is said to have missed training since Friday, with the Daily Record reporting that the midfielder has been signed off with stress. Added to that, the same report claims that Barton is set to meet with the Ibrox club’s managing director Stewart Robertson before this week is out in order to reach a financial settlement and terminate his £20,000-a-week contract. It's claimed that Rangers are prepared to pay Barton as much as eight weeks' worth wages (over £150,000) in order for him to leave the club instead of allowing the stand-off to continue until when the next transfer window opens in January.