Rangers boss rules out January move for Everton midfielder Tom Davies but confirms interest in Morgan Whittaker

Michael Beale has ruled out a January move for Everton midfielder Tom Davies but the Rangers boss has confirmed his interest in Swansea’s Morgan Whittaker.

GlasgowWorld revealed that the Ibrox side had submitted a second bid of around £1.5million for the 22-year-old winger after an initial offer was turned down by the EFL Championship club earlier in the window.

Whittaker has just returned to his parent club after helping promotion-chasing Plymouth Argyle to the League One summit during the first half of the campaign but he won’t be called upon to face Bristol City in tonight’s FA Cup replay in case a deal can be finalised with Rangers as the player is not able to feature for three different teams in one season.

Speaking at his news conference today, Beale confirmed he was aware of interest in Whittaker. The Englishman said: “He’s a player that we know. I think he’s a good player but there’s no update on that yet. To be fair, he has just come back off a loan to his parent club and obviously that’s because his parent club thinks he’s done very well.

“He’s Swansea’s player but he’s certainly a player I know very well from working down south. Knowing his background, I think he’s a player.”

The Light Blues had been strongly linked with out-of-favour Toffees midfielder Davies, who has fallen out of Frank Lampard’s first-team plans at Goodison Park. Beale spoke openly about the 24-year-old when asked about a potential move for him just 10 days ago, but has now slammed the door shut on those links.

He admitted: “There was no interest on our side towards Tom. There’s been no talk about Tom, you caught me on the hop that day and I said a couple of nice things about him because he’s a young British player that I saw coming through.

“I’m pleased to see his progress. He plays for a fantastic football club and I think that’s where he’s going to be. He’s not going to be a Rangers player in the future.”

Top January target Todd Cantwell is likely to be confirmed as the club’s first arrival of the month with new reports claiming a transfer fee has been agreed - and will remain undisclosed - with Norwich City.

It is understood the midfielder and his agent have plenty of offers on the table to consider, including from Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven and will now decide on where his future lies.

Beale has been a long-term admirer of Cantwell as he explained he is actively looking to boost his side’s attacking options with a view to longer term. He added: “There’s no update on transfers right now but I’m really pleased about the way things are going. I suppose no news doesn’t mean bad news. We’re all moving in the right direction. That’s not specifically talking about that one player, that’s just in general in this window.

“We are looking at all areas but we want to bring more goals into the club. We’ve had a number of injuries in the front area. Antonio (Colak) and Kemar (Roofe) have not been fit since I have been here and Alfredo (Morelos) and Ryan Kent have contract situations, so it’s definitely an area I’m looking at, whether it’s in this window or the summer to make sure that we’re strong because we need goal scorers in the building.

“I don’t want any short-term gaps. For me it’s about bringing in players who can have a big impact moving forward. There’s ongoing discussions about players that are out of contract, so therefore you’re looking at what the squad is going to look like in 2023, 2024 and onwards.

“In the past we’ve done some key recruitment that is still in the team now and has been really successful. It’s important whatever decisions we make are the right ones, so naturally I am a bit fussy at times in terms of finding that person. You can identify a player that you want but then discussions have to take place between the clubs and agents and all that takes longer than a coach would like. At the moment, all of the things I’m hearing behind the scenes I’m happy with.”