Rangers transfer development as deadly hitman drops social media clue to leave Ibrox sleuths scrambling

The prolific Rapid Bucharest forward won’t come cheap, according to Romanian football insider Cristian Cernodolea

Rangers have wasted little time in bolstering their squad ahead of the new season as Philippe Clement and his recruitment chief Nils Koppen continue to oversee a significant transfer overhaul this summer.

The Ibrox side have already secured the signings of Clinton Nsiala from AC Milan on a pre-contract deal, while deals for left-back Jefte and winger Oscar Cortes on an initial year-long loan with an obligation to buy have also been concluded.

Another name heavily linked with the Gers is Rapid Bucharest forward Albion Rrahmani, with Clement seeking a prolific goal scorer capable of alleviating some of the pressure on current first-team star Cyriel Dessers’ shoulders.

And eagle-eyed Light Blues supporters believe the Kosovo international has dropped a major clue on social media about his next move, with fans convinced they’re close to landing the 23-year-old. It comes after he began following Pulp – a cafe located on Gibson Street in Glasgow’s West End – on Instagram.

Rrahmani, who bagged 13 goals in 15 league matches for the Romanian outfit last term boasts a similar type of profile to in-demand Aberdeen striker Bojan Miovski. Rapid’s new boss Neil Lennon previously admitted he wasn’t planning on letting their star hitman exit the club without a fight, despite the player appearing to wave goodbye to fans last month.

And that hint was subsequently backed up by co-owner Victor Angelescu who confessed they are now resigned to losing Rrahmani in the next transfer window, with a replacement already lined up in the form of Romanian international Louis Munteanu.

However, Rangers will need to be prepared to stump up a fee in the region of £6million if they are to tempt the Romanians into selling one of their prized assets. That is according to insider Cristian Cernodolea, with the agent declaring a summer transfer is definitely on the cards, with Slavia Prague also rumoured to be interested in him.

Speculation has been intensified that Rrahmani is on his way to Glasgow with recruitment guru Koppen understood to have delivered a sales pitch to the player’s representatives at a TransferRoom summit in Mexico earlier this month. And Rangers fans will be hopeful he chooses Govan over other options with Rapid’s sporting director Daniel Sandu making it clear they have already received “good offers” for the attacker.

On the prospect of an imminent transfer, Cernodolea told GSP: “Knowing the market and what is happening in the market, I am absolutely convinced that Rrahmani will leave this summer. I know Rapid has offers on the table. There are many teams that came to see him, important teams, they had their scouts at matches in Bucharest. I’m sure some of them were impressed, I have information on that.

“If I had to estimate, I would say that at this point I’m almost convinced Rapid has between €5 and €6 million (around £4.5million) on the table for Rrahmani. And I don’t think they will sell him for that amount. The club is aiming for somewhere around €7 to €8 million (around £6million).”