£4.3mace on way to Rangers
Gerrard bids to sign Swedish defender Filip Helander
BOLOGNA last night confirmed they are on the brink of selling Swedish defender Filip Helander to Rangers.
Record Sport made contact with the Italian side after it emerged the
clubs were locked in talks over a price for the centre-half.
It’s understood the Serie A side hope to rake in £4.3million for Helander, 26, with sources at Ibrox adamant Steven Gerrard will get his man for a sum closer to £3.5m.
The player is believed to be pushing strongly for a deal to be completed having fallen out of Bologna’s starting XI under new boss Sinisa Mihajlovic.
Bologna sporting director Riccardo Bigon is overseeing discussions and last night, during a break in negotiations, he confirmed talks had reached an advanced stage.
Bigon said: “Yes, we are talking right now about this possible transfer. 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 he hoped to have another defender on board before the end of the week.
That target is Helander who is 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, forcing his way into the Swedish national side and earning a £1.8m move to Bologna in his first season.
He was a regular starter under Filippo Inzaghi but suffered a loss of form as the club battled the drop.
After Inzaghi was axed in January, Helander fell out of the first-team picture under replacement Mihajlovic.
But he is still held in high regard by Sweden boss Janne Andersson and started all four of his country’s European Championship qualifying matches this year. He has also been taken under the wing of former Sweden striker Martin Dahlin, now Helander’s representative with a key role in the talks to bring him to Scotland. But last night Dahlin would only say: “I’m sorry. I won’t be making any comment.” The player though is expected to travel to Glasgow by the end of the week if an agreement on his price tag can be thrashed out. Gerrard should also find out if he’ll be forced to wait longer before discovering if Ryan Kent will return on another loan deal. Kent could be allowed to leave Liverpool earlier than expected, possibly next week, if he isn’t included for a tour of the US.