Forget Kensington. The most expensive piece of land in Britain will be a strip of grass on the south side of Glasgow. Ibrox might not be on the top people’s property wish-list, but there will be one square yard today valued at roughly £10 million.

Barry Robson and Alan Hutton could not have chosen a better time to come face-to-face. The two most wanted Scottish footballers right now will not just be on the same pitch, when Dundee United visit Rangers, they will also be in direct confrontation. United’s captain, who plays on the left side of midfield, trying to get the better of the Scotland right-back.

Hutton may have turned down a £8 million move to Tottenham Hotspur but that will not prevent him from trying to underline just why his own stock is soaring. Robson is also in demand. Celtic are considering a bid for him during the January transfer window, but Craig Levein, the Dundee United manager, has put a £2 million price-tag on the 29-year-old.

The duel between Hutton and Robson is worth seeing at any time, but with the various sub-plots and suitors waiting in the wings, it is even more unmissable. It was Robson who came out on top the last time they met, scoring the winner in the 2-1 success over Rangers at Tannadice in October.

Remarkably, both men emerged from the Rangers youth system. However, if Hutton’s current market value is a reward for the work put in at Murray Park, Robson is evidence that mistakes are made. He was allowed to leave in 1997, at the age of 18, after two years at Ibrox. Chastened by the setback, the Inverurie youngster joined Inverness Caledonian Thistle, then in the Scottish League second division.

Robson was not alone. Only two of the Ibrox youth squad at that time currently play in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League – Barry Ferguson, of course, and Barry Nicholson, now at Aberdeen. The pair were a year older than Robson. The rest of Robson’s young peers are now scattered to the four winds. A broken ankle and knee problems put paid to any thoughts Robson had of making the breakthrough at Rangers.

The pair are almost mirror images of each other. Both survived the deep suspicion of managers who doubted their ability to play in the top flight. In the case of Hutton, that was Paul Le Guen, who drafted in Phil Bardsley on loan from Manchester United at the start of the ill-fated 2006-07 campaign, rather than use a headstrong Scot he felt was tactically naive. For Robson, it was Steve Paterson, his manager at Inverness, who sent him on loan to Forfar Athletic to spend the whole of 1999-2000 season.

That has been the making of both. While Hutton’s schism with Le Guen has been well-documented, Robson’s flirtation with a career in crisis came when his attitude at Inverness was perceived as that of a big-time Charlie, who had not adjusted to new surroundings in the Highlands.

“I went to Forfar for about six months,” Robson once explained, “I played well there. I knew there had been scouts to watch me when I was there, but Steve came back and offered me a new contract. Maybe the move to Forfar was his way of geeing me up. Who knows? I never felt it was my last chance. I always believed I was good enough for Inverness and I was pleased to be back.”

It was Ian McCall who took a gamble on Robson being able to handle a bigger stage. The former Dundee United manager spent just £50,000 on the player in 2003. It remains a credible legacy. All of McCall’s managerial successors at United – Gordon Chisholm, Craig Brewster and now Levein - have made Robson the first name on their team sheet. Indeed, Levein made him captain.

No one has been able to curb Robson’s temperament – he has been sent off five times – but the hat-trick on Wednesday in the 4-1 thrashing of Heart of Midlothian took his goals total at the club to 30 in 133 appearances. He has one Scotland cap and is now a regular in the squad, and he could add to that total if he joined a bigger club. Naturally, Levein is not interested in selling his best asset.

“We’re looking to stay in the top six and get into at least one cup final and he’s an important part of what we’re doing here,” Levein said on Thursday. “People are only worth what others are willing to pay for them. He’s under contract for three more years and I have no indication he wants to leave.”

Hutton has come a long way since Alex McLeish hauled him off just 45 minutes into his debut as a teenager away to Partick Thistle in December 2002. He has overcome a broken leg and his performances for Rangers in the Champions League and Scotland in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, attracted the attention of several English clubs and Lazio. Italy’s veteran right-back, Christian Panucci, believes Hutton is good enough for Serie A.

Walter Smith admitted that the £8 million offer from Tottenham presented a dilemma. “In a football sense we didn’t want to lose Alan, but from a financial point of view, a bid of that nature has to be taken into full consideration. I would have been a reluctant sell and we are just delighted he has chosen to stay.” Hutton and Robson could prove as intriguing a contest as Hatton and Mayweather.