The chances of Rangers doing business this month appear to be boiling down, at this stage, to whether a new midfiedler arrives at Ibrox or not.
And even in the case of Lyall Cameron, this is likely to be a deal which does not become official until the summer.
Rangers are leading the race for the Dundee dynamo. Cameron, like Connor Barron when Rangers stumped up an initial £650,000 to Aberdeen following a tribunal, can be secured on a pre-contract arrangement now with a fee to be decided later down the line.
Rangers News understands that Rangers hold an interest in Marko Soldo but there appears to have been little movement since then. Leon Belcar signed a new contract at NK Varazdin, meanwhile, and Carney Chukwuemeka appears set to leave Chelsea for a more deep-pocketed club abroad.
There is, however, the Sasa Zdjelar option to consider.
According to the Daily Mail, Rangers are eyeing the CSKA Moscow and Serbia enforcer.
Rangers signing Sasa Zdjelar would be bad news for CSKA Moscow
And while Zdjelar may not be the first name on the lips of the Ibrox faithful – many would prefer to see the younger, Premiership proven Cameron arrive instead – Zdjelar may be a low-cost, potential high-reward option as he enters the final few months of his own contract.
This leaves the Russian giants with a decision to make. Seven points adrift of leaders Zenit St Petersburg in the table, do CSKA hold onto Zdjelar in the hope that he can help drive a title charge or a European push?
Or should they cash in now rather than lose the former Partizan Belgrade ace for nothing a few months down the line?
Speaking to Sov Sport, former CSKA stalwart Dmitry Khomukha finds himself leaning towards the first option rather than the second.
“At the moment, I think so,” Khomukha says when asked if losing Zdjelar would be big hit to CSKA’s hopes. “It is extremely undesirable to lose players from the main squad.
“I repeat, the loss of any player who plays in the main squad of CSKA will undoubtedly be difficult for the team.”
This is not an opinion shared by everyone in Russia, however.
CSKA Moscow have one chance to sell Serbia international
Aleksandr Tarkhanov, who coached the capital city club for two years in the 1990s, feels that CSKA should not ignore the financial requirements, even if Zdjelar’s age and contract situation means he is unlikely to cost Rangers an arm and a leg anyway.
“CSKA should probably sell Zdjelar to Rangers,” Tarkhanov argues, speaking to Championat.
“We need to think about whether he will help the team and whether it is worth extending his contract. This will be determined by the management of CSKA.
“But, for now, the ‘army men’ have the opportunity to make money on Zdjelar. And, if he does not want to extend the contract, Sasa should be sold to the Rangers. Zdjelar is not such a star that we should worry about his departure. There are many footballers of this level.”
Zdjelar is a more defensive-minded option than some of Rangers’ other reported midfield targets.
Marko Soldo has blossomed as a number ten in Croatia after starting out in a number six role, while Lyall Cameron has eight goals and seven assists this term for Tony Docherty’s Dundee side.
