Rangers sign Swede Filip Helander for £4.2m
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Rangers are close to signing a new centre-back, with reports in Sweden claiming a threeyear deal for Bologna’s Filip Helander is imminent.
A transfer fee is yet to be agreed with the Serie A side but it is believed the Ibrox club will pay aournd €4 million (£3.6m) for the player.
Helander, 26, is a full Sweden international with ten caps.
The defender is understood to have an offer from Istanbul Başakşehir, while another Turkish side, Besiktas, are also keeping tabs on the situation. However, Helander is reportedly more keen on a move to Scotland. Newcastle United were also credited with an interest in the player in September last year.
Steven Gerrard, the Rangers manager, confirmed this week that a deal for an unnamed player was nearing completion.
He said: “It will be a permanent deal for a defender. There is still a way to go but we have had some progress in the last couple of days.
“If things progress as they have in the last 48 hours, I’m hoping something will get done by the end of the week.”
Helander will become Rangers’ eighth signing of the summer, once the deal is rubberstamped.
The 6ft 4in defender started his career with Malmo, spendreturn ing four years in Scania before his switch to Italy, initially with Hellas Verona, in 2015.
He joined Bologna in 2016 and has played 63 games for I Rossoblu, scoring once, but found himself in and out of the team during the last campaign after Sinisa Mihajlovic succeeded Filippo Inzaghi as head coach. Helander featured 20 times in the league last season.
Rangers are in the market for defensive reinforcements, having seen Joe Worrall to parent club Nottingham Forest, while Northern Ireland international Gareth Mcauley left the club at the end of his 12-month contract.
George Edmundson has already arrived from Oldham Athletic to join current central defenders Connor Goldson and Nikola Katic.
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The 17-year-old attacking midfielder has signed a new three-year contract days after appearing for the first team in their 5-0 friendly win over Oxford United.