GERS SWEDE ON £4M DEFENDER

BOLOGNA last night confirmed they are on the brink of selling Swedish defender Filip Helander to Rangers.

It’s understood the Serie A side hope to rake in as much as £4.3million for Helander with sources at Ibrox adamant Steven Gerrard will get his man for a sum closer to £3.5m.

The player himself is believed to be pushing strongly for a deal to be completed having fallen out of Bologna’s starting side under new boss Sinisa Mihajlovic during the second half of last season.

Bolonga’s sporting director Ricardo Bigon is now overseeing the discussions and last night the Italian confirmed that the talks had reached an advanced stage.

Bigon said: “Yes, we are talking right now about this possible transfer. In this moment I can’t tell you any more than that because the discussions are not yet complete. But we hope to have an agreement very soon.”

After watching his side romp to a 4-0 away win over St Joseph’s in Gibraltar on Tuesday night, Gerrard revealed an eighth summer capture was imminent, adding that he hoped to have another defender on board before the end of the week.

And that target is Helander who is now on the brink of becoming the most expensive Ibrox arrival since Walter Smith shelled out £4m to land Nikica Jelavic nearly nine years ago.

Helander left hometown team Malmo in 2015 to join Verona in Italy’s top flight, forcing his way into the Swedish national side and earning a £1.8m move to Bologna in his first season.

He was regular starter under Filippo Inzaghi but suffered a loss of form last season as the club battled to stay clear of the drop.

After Inzaghi was axed in January this year Helander (above) fell out of the first team picture under his replacement Mihajlovic.