In a potential transfer blow for Rangers, new FC Koln manager Steffen Baumgart reportedly wants his club to offer midfielder Salih Özcan a new contract [Sport Bild via Inside Futbol].
Rangers were credited with interest in Özcan last summer [Kölner Stadt Anzeiger] and the link recently resurfaced via Kicker.
It’s been asserted that the Light Blues are considering a move for the German youth international, particularly if one of the current crop of Ibrox midfielders moves on in the summer window.
With the 23-year-old’s contract soon set to expire, a transfer fee wouldn’t even be required.
However, in a surprise twist, it looks as though there’s still a chance of him remaining with Koln.
Sport Bild reports via Inside Futbol, that Baumgart, who was only appointed last month, rates Özcan highly and wants the club to hand him a new contract.
The possibility of the player agreeing to an extension hasn’t been ruled out, either.
Özcan is a technically strong midfielder who was named as one of FourFourTwo‘s top 40 teenagers in the world back in 2017 and who just won the European U21 Championship with Germany as an overage player, playing 90 minutes in the final.
The prospect of being able to snap up a player with such pedigree on a free has no doubt excited many Bears, but with the chance to remain at his boyhood club now seemingly on the table, a swoop may prove more difficult than initially expected.
However, Rangers have reportedly received a boost in their bid to sign a powerful and prolific striker.
