James Tavernier Rangers exit now faces transfer hijack from England - report

James Tavernier is now also wanted by clubs in England as his proposed Rangers exit faces a hijack, according to the Scottish Sun.

The paper reported via their website on 19 July that sides from south of the border are interested in the Ibrox captain as the battle to sign him hots up and could threaten Trabzonspor’s bid to take him to Turkey.

It is as yet unknown how many English clubs, or which ones, are vying to land the full-back after Tavernier, 32, was reported to have agreed a two-year deal with an option for one more [Yağız Sabuncuoğlu, 18 July] to join Borna Barisic and John Lundstram at the Turkish Super Lig club.

Tavernier has long been linked to a Saudi Pro League move to join Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq [Daily Record, 24 April] and was also reported to be wanted by Giovanni van Bronckhorst at Besiktas this summer [Sozcu, 9 June].

Trabzonspor move under threat as Rangers captain wanted elsewhere

Philippe Clement has publicly admitted that he would be willing to move on from Tavernier this summer for the right price as he named Jack Butland as the only irreplaceable figure in the Light Blues squad [Rangers Review, 14 July].

The arguments for selling the record-breaking right-back [BBC Sport, 31 March] are well known – he is into his 30s, he can be exposed defensively, and he is the player most synonymous with a period of underachievement at Ibrox.

Yet it is not a surprise that multiple clubs have an interest in him considering his incredible attacking output for a defender – 125 goals for Rangers.

This summer probably is the right time in the grand scheme of things to cash in and give Dujon Sterling a regular home on the right of the back line but it would be absolutely no shock for Tavernier to be hugely-missed once he is gone.

Clement and Nils Koppen’s incoming transfer business appears to have ground to a halt as they struggle to offload big-name senior players [Scottish Sun, 12 July] and while the captain is hardly top of the list of ones who need to go they have to start somewhere.

A bidding war for his services would be ideal in the circumstances as cash is needed to fund the rest of the window and with two years remaining on his contract the arrival of English clubs on the scene could help.

In other Rangers news, the Light Blues have been backed to make an offer for Kilmarnock star David Watson after Lennon Miller at Motherwell.

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