Rangers will step up efforts to sign a defender as Calvin Bassey moves closer to joining Ajax.
Manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst confirmed on Saturday that the 22-year-old looked to be moving on and the versatile left-sided defender is reported to have arrived in Amsterdam to complete his move.
Ajax confirmed the imminent departure of defender Lisandro Martinez to Manchester United on Sunday after a deal worth an initial £48.3million was agreed.
The Dutch club are reported to be set to pay Rangers £18.7million to take Bassey and up to £4.25million more in potential add-ons.
Van Bronckhorst revealed he had already done his summer business with the arrivals of John Souttar, Antonio Colak, Tom Lawrence, Rabbi Matondo and Malik Tillman.
But the club will now spring into action to source a new defender
“Of course Calvin going maybe as well, we have to look for another player to add to the squad,” Van Bronckhorst told Sky Sports on Saturday.
“But we have our list ready so, once the deal is done, we can work on another player coming in.”
Bassey excelled at both left-back and centre-back under van Bronckhorst and Rangers let left-sided central defender Leon Balogun depart this summer.
James Sands played in central defence alongside Connor Goldson in Saturday’s 2-1 friendly win at Blackpool, with Croatia left-back Borna Barisic among the goalscorers.
Centre-backs Souttar and Nikoa Katic, back from a loan spell at Hajduk Split, came off the bench.
Charlie McCann was also on target and the Northern Ireland Under-21 midfielder is now looking forward to stepping up pre-season preparations when West Ham visit Ibrox on Tuesday.
The 20-year-old told Rangers TV: “That’s a great game, a great experience to play a top, top Premier League team so it will be a good test.
“But I am sure we will be able to cope with it and it will be another good building block for the start of the season.
“Everyone has to get minutes, it is massively important. Everyone has to feel involved and be ready for the start of the season. It has been really enjoyable, I have really enjoyed it.
“I am getting a lot of help from the coaches and the players and it has been really good for me, really beneficial and I feel as a group we are in a good place and we are getting better every day.”
