Rangers set to increase offer for Lafferty
RANGERS will return to the table with an improved offer for Kyle Lafferty, having had an opening £200,000 bid for the Northern Irishman rejected by Hearts. Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard sees the 30-year-old as one of the final pieces in his jigsaw after publicly voicing his concerns about a lack of cutting edge in his team. Lafferty, who previously spent four years at Ibrox before leaving in 2012, scored 19 goals in 44 games for Hearts after moving to Tynecastle a year ago following his exit from Norwich City. Despite having a year of his contract to run, the Edinburgh club feel the offer for the striker is nowhere near their valuation. Lafferty, who has 67 caps for Northern Ireland, started his career with Burnley before joining Rangers in 2008 and
leaving amid the club’s financial collapse. He went on to play for Swiss Club Sion, Palermo in Serie B and Norwich City, who loaned him to Caykur Rizespor in Turkey and Birmingham City. He then moved to Tynecastle last summer. Hearts manager Craig Levein has added former St Johnstone veteran Steven MacLean and Uche Ikpeazu from Cambridge United to bolster his striker options, while Bobby Burns, who was bought from Northern Irish outfit Glenavon, can also play up front. Another striker, David Vanecek, has agreed a pre-contract deal to switch from Czech side Teplice to Tynecastle in January. Rangers have brought in Umar Sadiq on loan from Roma to aid Alfredo Morelos in attack, but have seen Kenny Miller depart for Livingston and Mexican striker Eduardo Herrera go on loan to Santos Laguna. Gerrard has also targeted Manchester City’s Kean Bryan — with the 21-year-old’s ability to play in either defence or midfield the allure — but reports last night suggested Rangers had pulled the plug on the deal. After his side’s 1-0 win away to Osijek on Thursday, Gerrard admitted to an interest in the player who has previously been on loan at Bury and Oldham but there are suggestions the deal has ran into difficulty. Were he and Lafferty to arrive, it would bring to 12 the number of summer signings he has made.