CEDRIC ITTEN is on the brink of completing a £1.55 million move back home to Switzerland with the Rangers flop set to to sign for YB Bern.
The 25-year-old is expected to sign a four-year deal with Young Boys, who could only finish third in the Swiss League this season.
And he will be the first departure from the Ibrox club this summer to yield a transfer fee, although Rangers will have made a loss on the international striker, who cost £2.7 million when he signed a four-year deal two years ago.
Young Boys' sports director Christoph Spycher refused to deny interest in the former St Gallen striker when he was quizzed about him last week and they are set to get their man, with reports in Sweitzerland insisting the deal is done.
Itten is keen to return home after a largely unsuccessful two years in Scottish football.
He was recalled to Ibrox from a loan spell to Germany with relegated Greuther Furth in January, but he revealed he was laid low with a mystery bug that prevented him from playing.
Even when fully fit, the 25-year-old barely featured although he did score against Hearts in the final game of the season - his first goal for the club for 15 months.
Itten revealed recently that he had not played on his initial return from the Bundesliga because of a mystery bug.
He said: "The whole illness thing really blew my mind. I wanted to eat, but I couldn't, I only ate soup and lost a total of four kilos.
"I didn't know what kind of illness it was. Neither the Rangers' club doctors nor my girlfriend's father, who is also a doctor, could find an explanation.
"It's possible it was the aftermath of a Covid infection - I previously tested positive, even though I've been vaccinated three times. I was then in quarantine for ten days, felt good again, was back in fitness training before it knocked me out again.
"It's been a difficult time mainly because the training deficit at this point in the season means it is almost impossible to catch up, but I hope to play now.
"The manager, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, told me that he would never have loaned me out if he had been in charge at the beginning of the season."
However, his time at Rangers now appears to be over after six league goals in 33 appearances, although he only started eight league matches.
