Fresh Rangers transfer exit twist as new club ready to throw £2.5m curveball towards Ibrox

Sam Lammers looks to be heading towards the Ibrox exit door with a new Dutch club believed to be ready to mount a £2.5million offer to take him off Rangers hands on a permanent basis this summer.

The versatile attacker - who proved a major flop during the first half of last season - rediscovered his best form during a hugely successful six-month loan spell at Eredivisie side FC Utrecht where he broke a goalscoring record by netting in nine consecutive games.

Despite being keen to make his temporary stint into a permanent one, Utrecht now look to have been priced out of the market after club officials admitted last week there was “less than a 50 per cent chance” of signing Lammers due to the combined transfer fee and player’s wages proving a significant stumbling block.

With Utrecht falling out of the race for the 27-year-old’s signature, reports in the Netherlands suggest rivals AZ Alkmaar are the latest club on Lammers’ trail and they will match the Light Blues’ asking price for the unwanted forward as they search for a quickfire replacement for top scorer Vangelis Pavlidis, who recently signed for Benfica in a deal worth £17m. The report adds that AZ are hopeful they can persuade Lammers to remain in his homeland as they look to build on a fourth-placed league finish last season.

They have money to spend and can offer guaranteed Europa League group stage football to Lammers who has also caught the attention of potential suitors FC Twente, having moved to Govan for £3.5m from Atalanta last summer.

Lammers previously admitted he hadn’t received any contact with anyone from Rangers during his time with Utretch. He said: "I still have to contact the people at Rangers. That will happen as soon as the season is over. If I had spent the last few months focusing on where I will be playing next season, I really wouldn't have scored goals so easily.

"I have had a lot of questions about my future in recent weeks. To be honest, I am not concerned with that at all right now and I want to enjoy this moment. I just want to achieve European football for the club. When I came to Utrecht we also said that the goal was to achieve European football, which is now very close."