Rangers deal ‘still on’, Celtic trio left out, ex-Ibrox ace lands new club, Hearts agree exit - Scottish transfer news
The latest Scottish transfer headlines and rumours on Thursday morning, including rumours from Rangers, Celtic, Hearts, and beyond.
These are the top Scottish transfer headlines, with several moves still mooted despite the Scottish Premiership transfer window closing on Monday, including reports from Rangers, Celtic, Hearts and beyond.
Hearts sanction exit
Hearts head coach Derek McInnes has sanctioned a move that will allow full-back Adam Forrester to re-join St Johnstone on loan, following his surprise recall last month. The 20-year-old defender signed for the McDiarmid Park outfit in early August, but was brought back to Tynecastle just a week into his loan spell after summer signing Christian Borchgrevink was ruled out for six-to-eight weeks with injury.
Moving to McDiarmid Park as part of a new co-operation between the two sides, Forrester didn’t get the chance to play for St Johnstone before his recall, but will now be able to help Simo Valakari’s side push for promotion from the Scottish Championship after it was confirmed on Wednesday that he would link back up with the squad. “He will go back to St Johnstone now,” revealed McInnes. “We brought Adam back a couple of weeks ago, basically because we'd had a couple of inquiries about one or two of our defenders, and we just decided to wait and let the window close before we make a decision on that. Christian Borchgrevink will hopefully be back in the next three weeks or so, three to four weeks.”
Ex-Ibrox ace lands new club
Former Rangers midfielder Ianis Hagi appears to have finally found a new club almost three months on from his Ibrox departure. The Romanian international endured a turbulent end to his Rangers career, with a contract dispute seeing him left out of ex-head coach Philippe Clement’s plans at the beginning of the season, before he was reintroduced to the fold following a discussion between the player and club.
The 26-year-old contributed to nine league goals in just 24 games, but was unable to convince the Ibrox hierarchy to offer him an extension to his deal, meaning he left this summer as a free agent. It now looks like the winger will play his football with Alanyaspor, after reports claimed the Turkish top-flight side had fought off competition from rivals Karagumruk and Spanish side Elche in the race for his signature. According to SportX, he has opted to move to the Bahçeşehir School Arena after being presented with a more favourable offer than the aforementioned duo.
Celtic trio left out
Celtic head coach Brendan Rodgers has left three of his new summer signings out of his squad for their upcoming Europa League campaign. The Hoops’ squad for the competition was named yesterday, and included new signings Marcelo Saracchi, Sebastian Tounekti, Michel-Ange Balikwisha, and Kelechi Iheanacho, while Yang Hyun-Jun was also included, despite being linked with a move to Birmingham City on deadline day.
However, three of the club’s summer recruits have been omitted from the squad in a surprise move, with Shin Yamada, Callum Osmand, and Hayato Inamura all missing. On Inamura, Rodgers recently admitted that the new signing has some way to go before he can be considered for first team duties, admitting that “his defensive qualities aren't at the level that would see me put him in”, though the omission of Yamada and Osmand are intriguing, with the pair both featuring in the club Champions League qualifying campaign earlier this season.
Ibrox deal ‘still on’
Rangers’ out-of-favour centre-back Clinton Nsiala is still expected to depart Ibrox this summer, despite turning down a deadline day move to Dynamo Kyiv. The French defender was informed that he is not part of Russell Martin’s plans in the summer, with the youngster left out of Rangers’ squad for the Champions League qualifiers last month. Despite reports of interest in his services, however, Nsiala remained a Light Blues player when the Scottish transfer window closed on Monday, having rejected a move to Ukraine.
According to the Glasgow Times, the 21-year-old is still expected to leave Glasgow this month with a trio of Belgian clubs eyeing up a move before their own transfer deadline. Anderlecht, KV Mechelen, and Zulte Waregem have all been credited with an interest in the player, who joined from AC Milan last summer, and made 13 appearances.
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