Rangers have been handed a boost in their pursuit of Danilho Doekhi, the Vitesse Arnhem centre-half who has been a long-term target of the Light -Blues.
The 23-year old Dutch youth cap was the centre of much speculation in the January window with reports of a failed bid attempting to secure his services earlier, however, the deal was blocked by the club due to their ambitions of securing Europa League football for another season and that letting their captain go would significantly affect their chances.
The Glasgow Times has picked up a story in GLD where the Eredivisie side’s new technical director, Benjamin Schmedes, admits that they have given up any last remaining hope they had of persuading Doekhi to stay, now, turning their attentions to other options:
“We have no time to lose.
“We are going to tackle signings and I expect the first results in the spring.
“You can see it as a threat (Doekhi leaving), but I see it as challenging opportunities.”
If we can get a player of Doekhi’s quality in on a Bosman deal it will soften the blow of losing Connor Goldson by the same method, the vice-captain has been an integral part of our success in recent seasons but he has been worth every penny of his £3million transfer fee and has barely missed a minute on the training ground never mind on the pitch.
In an ideal world we will be able to call upon both of them next season, having more than one centre-half who is fit every week would be a luxury that we have rarely been afforded over the last couple of years despite the obvious qualities of Filip Helander and Leon Balogun.