Ibrox men prepare to unveil Niko
CROATIAN midfielder Niko Kranjcar is set to be unveiled this week as Rangers manager Mark Warburton’s latest summer recruit. Sportsmail understands the 31-year-old is due to jet into Glasgow in the next 24 hours, with a deal to land the gifted playmaker on a two-year contract expected to be finalised as early as Wednesday. After winning
the Championship last season, Warburton placed the former Croatia international star high on his list of signing targets ahead of his team’s Scottish Premiership campaign. The Englishman then flew personally to America last month to open talks with the midfielder, who was starring for the New York Cosmos after leaving Dynamo Kiev. Warburton was always confident of securing Kranjcar’s return to British football, where he had enjoyed three successful spells playing under Harry Redknapp at Portsmouth, QPR and Tottenham. Now the capture of the classy 81-times-capped midfielder looks imminent and his unveiling would be another boost to Scottish football after the highprofile arrivals of Joey Barton at Ibrox and Brendan Rodgers as Celtic boss. Warburton’s summer transfer business has already seen him snap up Kranjcar’s former QPR team-mate, veteran defender Clint Hill. And in a bid to further bolster his backline, Rangers opened talks at the weekend with former Crystal Palace defender Adrian Mariappa, who started his career at Watford, where Warburton and chief scout Frank McParland were previously employed. The 29-year-old Jamaican international met with Warburton’s assistant David Weir and McParland for talks on Saturday. Striker James Vaughan has emerged as another signing target and is believed to have also held talks with the Ibrox hierarchy over the weekend. Freed by Huddersfield at the end of last season, he is known to Ibrox assistant Weir from his early days at Everton. Rangers have also recruited former Liverpool kid Jordan Rossiter and Accrington Stanley duo Matt Crooks and Josh Windass. However, Crooks and Windass remain blocked from training with their new club until June 30 due to an ongoing row over compensation with their former club. Rangers are due to pay the English League Two club under FIFA regulations because the players are under 23 and have made a cross-border switch. Accrington claim Rangers are at fault in not paying, but the Ibrox club refute that and claim they are waiting for paperwork from the English side to complete the deal. Already furious at losing two highly-rated players for low fees in a crossborder raid, Accrington owner Andy Holt said: ‘Until the compensation package is agreed they are our players, so they shouldn’t be allowed to train with Rangers. An Ibrox spokesperson retorted: ‘Rangers have always been willing to pay a compensation fee as determined by FIFA regulations. ‘However, in order to confirm a figure Rangers needs Accrington Stanley to co-operate fully by providing some necessary detail. ‘So far they have failed to provide this.’