At this stage, one particular Rangers rumour cannot even be described as a poorly-kept secret.
That, after all, would imply that it is a secret to begin with.
Instead, it’s a transfer being played out rather publicly. Interest confirmed by a club hoping to agree a deal, and well-sourced reporters queuing up to provide their own two pence.
As things stand, it seems only a matter of time before Sam Lammers completes a permanent departure from a Rangers side who plucked him out of Atalanta obscurity 12 months ago with an ill-fated belief that they could put the swagger back in the Dutchman’s step.
Lammers would go on to score only twice in 31 Rangers appearances.
But with 10 in 18 following a transformative loan spell back in the Netherlands with FC Utrecht from January to June, Rangers will at least have the opportunity to cut their losses and make some return on their £3 million investment.
Sam Lammers edging closer to Rangers exit
FC Twente coach Joseph Oosting is desperate to sign a striker. Technical director Arnold Bruggink is willing to back his manager too, presuming that the finances are right.
“I’m not going to deny that we are working on him,” Arnold Bruggink said in midweek when asked about Lammers, via TC Tubantia.
“But we are still a long way from that.”
Exactly how long, however, remains to be seen.
Much has been made of Lammers’ reported £20,000-a-week wages. That is far in excess of what most players outside of the ‘big three’ of Ajax, Feyenoord and champions PSV Eindhoven tend to earn in the Eredivisie.
Reporter Jeroen Kapteijns insists that compromises must be made, while rubbishing suggestions from some quarters that Twente will stump up an eye-watering fee of £4.2 million.
Rangers are still expected to make a considerable loss on a player who has only briefly shown glimpses of his best form since that disastrous big-money move to Atalanta five years ago.
“The sounds from Scotland are that things are looking good regarding FC Twente and Sam Lammers,” Kapteijns writes on X. “But that there is no full agreement yet. The club is expected to be willing to make concessions in terms of transfer fee.”
“Rangers are very keen to get him off the payroll. Lammers will have to make concessions towards Twente.
“(A £4.2 million fee is) not on the agenda.”
Philippe Clement continues to shake things up at Ibrox
Sky Sports suggest that a deal could be done closer to £2 million. That would make Lammers the second most expensive signing at FC Twente since one-time Chelsea and Ajax playmaker Hakim Ziyech arrived from Heerenveen nearly a decade ago.
“The parties have been in talks for some time now,” reporter Tijmen van Wissing writes on X. “There is no agreement yet.
“The negotiations are about a purchase, but not about the amounts mentioned in the Scottish media. To be continued.”
Rangers continue to trim the fat from a bloated squad as Philippe Clement and recruitment chief Nils Koppen look to put their own stamp on the Ibrox roster.
Lammers would be the latest senior player to depart after Borna Barisic, John Lundstram, Ryan Jack and more. Jose Cifuentes – another of those failed signings from the summer of 2023 – is also expected to seal a permanent move to Cyprus with Aris Limassol.
