Boyd was involved in the winning goal against Falkirk on Saturday

Bayer Leverkusen and Cologne are considering a bid for Rangers' Scotland striker Kris Boyd.

They are among a number of German clubs known to be monitoring the 24-year-old with a view to making an offer before the closure of the transfer window.

Rangers have a surplus of strikers - Kenny Miller, Andrius Velicka and Kyle Lafferty were added in the summer.

And their surprise Champions League exit could reduce their budget to strengthen their defence and midfield.

There is widespread speculation that Rangers will look to offload some players following the qualifying defeat by Lithuanian outfit Kaunas.

Boyd struggled to maintain a regular starting place in the Rangers side last season despite finishing as the club's top scorer with 25 goals.

MY SPORT: DEBATE Why should we lose our top goalscorer and still have the likes of Cousin on the books? boydno1fan

But manager Walter Smith is believed to prefer to keep the Scotland forward and instead sell Daniel Cousin and Jean-Claude Darcheville.

But there has been no firm interest in either of those strikers.

Boyd was the subject of a failed �2.5m summer bid from Cardiff City, despite negotiations over a swap deal involving Rangers defensive target Glenn Loovens.

The striker himself has said he would prefer to remain at Ibrox to fight for his place.

He was on the bench for the two legs of the Champions League games, as he was for much of the time as Rangers' reached last season's Uefa Cup final, but started against Falkirk on Saturday.

Boyd could benefit should Smith adopt a more attacking philosophy this season, having played much of last term with one striker in his starting line-up.