Rangers dealt another transfer blow as club agree £7m deal with 'target'
Rangers look set to have missed out on another of their reported transfer targets.
Rangers have missed out on another reported transfer target amid a frustrating start to the summer transfer window, and before it has even opened. Philippe Clement will be hell-bent on improving his squad this summer having seen his side tail off down the stretch, missing out to Celtic in both the Premiership and Scottish Cup.
But new recruits have not been forthcoming up to this point, with reported targets Jose Cordoba and Damien Garcia, Rangers now look set to have missed out on Nathaniel Adjei. The Gers were said to be ready to snatch Adjei from Lorient, the club where the Hammarby centre-back spent last season on loan.
With Lorient suffering relegation to Ligue 2, it was thought they would not be able to meet the asking price for the 21-year-old. That led to Rangers being linked by outlets in Sweden, but the links have not lasted long.
That’s because it is now reported that Lorient have agreed to pay a club record £5.5m fee plus £1.5m in add-ons to secure the young defender’s long-term future. The French club had an option to buy in the loan deal, giving them exclusive rights to a deal providing they agreed to meet the fee before this Saturday.
The reports claim they have now met that deadline, and Adjei, who made 15 league appearances for the club after joining in January, will now return to Brittany this summer. Speaking earlier this year about his development, Adjei said: “All the strikers I have faced are good but I have been able to manage them. I am looking forward to facing someone tough. Facing Kylian Mbappe will be a big challenge for me. As a young player, you need to challenge yourself and not be in your comfort zone. Mbappe is a very good player and playing against such players gives you more experience and tests you. I look forward to seeing how far I have come as a centre-back.”
He added: “In this era, if you are a centre-back that doesn’t like to play the ball a lot it’s going to affect you. When I was playing in the second team in Hammarby they always loved to keep the ball. Playing under Martí Cifuentes has really improved me a lot because he likes to keep the ball more. As a centre-back, your main priority is not just to defend but also to keep the ball more. By doing that it improves your game and takes you to the next step.”