Rangers star Filip Helander is attracting Premier League interest from the likes of Aston Villa and Leicester City – but the Gers have a readymade replacement in their sights.
That’s according to one report in Swedish media, with Sport Bladet reporting that former Celtic and Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has cast an eye over the Scandinavian centre-back.
The report also claims that Rangers have one eye on Elfsborg defender Joseph Okumu to replace him should Premier League clubs come a-knocking.
Helander, 27, has been on fine form this season and has shown himself to be a talented, tactically astute, and disciplined defender in a Rangers side which has been so defensively strong this season.
Signed for £3m from Bologna last season, Helander is yet to play in a Scottish Premiership match which the Gers have lost.
With two years left on his current deal from the summer, this is an interesting juncture in Helander’s career and for the right price the Gers may well be tempted to sell.
Okumu, 23, is a Kenyan international defender who, according to Sport Bladet, has already been attracting plenty of interest from the Gers.
According to that report, Elfsborg have already knocked back an offer of around £2m for the defender in the winter window with Rangers only one of a number of clubs interested.
Helander isn’t a name normally linked with the Ibrox exit door – compared to the likes of Barisic, Kamara, or Morelos – but this season he has proven himself to be an asset for the Gers.
Not only that, but he’s impressing at international level too.
The big defender played the full 90 minutes for Sweden, but his performance was a sideshow as the Scandinavian country got off to a winning start in their World Cup Qualification campaign.
