Rangers set to sign 'huge personality' as major transfer breakthrough emerges amid Ibrox departure
Rangers are set for a major transfer breakthrough.
Rangers are on the verge of a major breakthrough in the summer transfer market, having struck up a deal for promotion-winning Hull City goalkeeper Ivor Pandur, with Jack Butland set for a surprise switch in the opposite direction.
Pandur, 26, has just recently won promotion to the English Premier League with the Tigers and is currently away at the World Cup with Croatia, but is set to become Rangers’ new number one goalkeeper after the two clubs agreed a fee of £6million for the goalkeeper.
According to several reports, the arrival of Pandur will coincide with current Ibrox stopper Butland ending his three-year stay with the club by moving in the opposite direction, with Sergej Jakirovic’s side ready to pay a fee in the region of £3million to bring the England international to the MKM Stadium this summer.
Capped by Croatia at various youth levels, Pandur was a virtual ever-present last season at Hull, keeping 14 clean sheets as they won promotion via the EFL Championship playoffs with a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough at Wembley. However, the club were understood to be open to allowing a move this summer, with reports linking them to goalkeeping trio Besiktas’ Ersin Destanoğlu, Manchester United’s Radek Vitek and Braga’s Lukas Hornicek.
Expected to agree a long-term contract at Ibrox, Pandur will be installed as Rangers’ number one ahead of the new season, with Butland moving back across the border to join the newly promoted side ahead of the new season. The 32-year-old leaves having made over 100 appearances for the club since his free transfer arrival from Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2023.
Described by former Hull boss Liam Rosenior as “an outstanding athlete” who “plays with a huge amount of personality”, Pandur began his career with hometown club Rijeka, winning the Croatian Football Cup in 2020 before being snapped up by Hellas Verona, and later signed for Fortuna Sittard in the Eredivisie after a successful loan period at the Limburg-based club.
The goalkeeper will become Rangers’ third signing of the summer, following in the footsteps of Scotland internationals Lawrence Shankland and Ross McCrorie, who joined the club earlier this month from Hearts and Bristol City, respectively.
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