The pursuit of Luke Graham has become a stretched-out saga after the Rangers transfer target missed a critical weekend deadline without an official agreement.
The highly-rated centre-back has been at the centre of intense speculation all summer, with Rangers heavily linked with a £1.5million move to bring the defender to Ibrox.
However, the Light Blues’ pursuit has hit a major roadblock, with updates indicating that Graham is far from sold on a move to Glasgow.
The 22-year-old is strictly prioritising his developmental progression and has no intention of moving to Ibrox simply to act as a rotational backup option.
Instead, the left-footed defender wants guaranteed, regular first-team football – a stance that has completely altered the landscape of the race.
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Graham misses transfer deadline before flight to Hungary
Providing a live update on his social media account, transfer expert Alan Nixon revealed that interested suitors expected a final decision from the player on Saturday.
The weekend timeline was viewed as a crucial cut-off point because Dundee were scheduled to board a flight to Hungary this weekend, ahead of their pre-season campaign kicking off in central Europe on Sunday.
With the squad now safely touched down in Hungary for their warm-weather-training block, interested clubs have been left in a tense holding pattern after the initial deadline was missed.
“Trying to confirm something. He was due to decide yesterday [Saturday] before Dundee went to Hungary”, Nixon wrote on X.
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Portsmouth remain in pole position for Rangers target
While Rangers’ reluctance to offer concrete playing guarantees has stalled their approach, English Championship clubs are pushing aggressively to take advantage.
Portsmouth have been the long-standing frontrunners to extract Graham from Dens Park, having already seen a bid knocked back by Dundee in the winter.
Nixon confirmed that John Mousinho’s side are still leading the race on the south coast, even if they could not completely cross the finish line over the weekend.
Asked if Portsmouth are still in pole position to sign Graham, Nixon noted: “Yeah, but thought it was going to be sorted yesterday [Saturday].”
Portsmouth are not the only English side hoping to secure the signature of the award-winning Dundee defender, as Derby County are also in the mix.
