The door has been closed on Rangers’ reported pursuit of Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Marko Bulat.
The 22-year-old Croatian emerged as a possible target for the Ibrox club, with one report emanating out of the Scottish press claiming Rangers had ‘checked on the conditions’ of Bulat.
The Light Blues could be doing with reinforcements in that area of the pitch to help ease the load of minutes on the likes of John Lundstram and Nico Raskin, who has only just returned from an injury lay-off.
Bulat was allegedly being looked into by Rangers director of football Nils Koppen but were quickly made aware of his hefty £5m asking price which would make a deal unlikely anyway.
Reports from Croatian media were quick to shoot down the original speculation and claimed that those Ibrox transfer links were ‘not close to being realised’.
Now, a firm decision has been made on Bulat’s future at Dinamo Zagreb.
Marko Bulat Rangers interest halted
Football Scotland journalist Mark Hendry, who initially broke the news that Rangers had shortlisted Mark Bulat ahead of the January transfer window, has reported the midfielder has now signed a contract extension with Dinamo Zagreb.
The Croatian giants were allegedly ‘pushed into panic mode’ amid transfer interest in their £5m-rated star who has three caps for his national team’s U21 side.
Bulat has put pen to paper on a deal until 2028 and as a result, any potential advances Rangers were going to make have now been stopped in their tracks.
This was always going to be unlikely to reach a point where Rangers would submit a bid for Bulat – £5m is simply not the kind of money Gers will splash on a player in January.
The club are still on the lookout for a striker and left-back this month with just 13 days of the window to operate within.
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