Rangers closing in on double loan deal
RANGERS are poised to tie up a double loan move for Roma striker Umar Sadiq and Mali international midfielder Lassana Coulibaly. The Ibrox club have reached an agreement with Angers in France to bring in 22-year-old Coulibaly. Now he and 21-year-old Nigerian Sadiq will join Steven Gerrard’s posse of summer signings, pending the award of work permits. Sadiq, a 6ft 3in target man, spent the second half of last season on loan with Dutch club NAC Breda, where he scored five goals in 13 games. Both Sadiq and Coulibaly fail to meet automatic criteria for work permits, but they are likely to be granted the green light
pending an appeal hearing convened by the Scottish FA. Ibrox manager Gerrard has already secured Jamie Murphy, Connor Goldson, Nikola Katic, Jon Flanagan, Ovie Ejaria, Scott Arfield and Allan McGregor for the season ahead and he hopes that Sadiq will add physical prowess to his forward options. ‘He would bring us a forward option,’ said Gerrard of Sadiq, who has scored four goals in six caps for Nigeria’s Under-23s side. ‘He has good height, power and presence on the pitch. He’s the type of player who gives you just as much out of possession as he does in possession.’ Ibrox sources, meanwhile, have played down reports of a move to bring back Steven Davis from Southampton. But Gerrard is keen to press on with his recruitment plans ahead of the new campaign after indicating that fringe players are set to leave the club.