MARK WARBURTON has hit back at Aston Villa chairman Tony Xia over the collapse of Joleon Lescott's move to Rangers.

And the Ibrox boss insists it is 'absolute nonsense' to suggest that the deal fell through because personal terms could not be agreed.

Lescott looked set to become the tenth arrival of the summer at Ibrox this week but the transfer was cancelled at the eleventh hour on Friday.

Villa Park chief Xia claimed that the 34-year-old could not agree personal terms after the Championship club sanctioned a switch twelve months before the end of his contract.

But Warburton insists Lescott wanted to remain south of the border and that is why the deal was not completed.

He said: "Let me be really clear about this - it's absolute nonsense.

"Personal terms were all agreed but the player just decided to keep his family in Manchester. He's well settled with three young children.

"It's absolute nonsense to say anything other than that.

"The fact he's up here tells you that terms were agreed and there wasn't a problem with that.

"It's a big decision on the player's part and we understand that. But it's nothing to do with what I've read in the papers.

"We know what happened, the player knows what happened. To take your three young kids out of school is a big call on his part and we respect it. It's unfortunate but we wish him all the best."