Michael Beale has shot down claims Rangers have signed a pre-contract with Nicolas Raskin – or any other player - and denied reports a fresh £2 million bid had been lodged for Morgan Whittaker.
The Ibrox side are chasing Belgian midfielder Raskin and Swansea City star Whittaker, whose contracts both expire at the end of this season. But despite being able to sign the players on pre-contract deals, Beale said neither have agreed to come to Ibrox in the summer. Rangers have had bids rejected for both players but Beale is keen to step up transfer activity ahead of the window closing on Tuesday. He was also quizzed on Jake Cooper, the Millwall defender previously linked with Gers and wouldn't rule out interest.
Rangers had reportedly made a new bid of around £2million for Swansea City man Whittaker but Beale said that was "not true" adding: "We made a bid, that was rejected and haven't returned for him. We already have a fantastic player in place this week in Cantwell. It’s not true we have signed a pre-contract with anyone. We are busy working in the background. There's a lot of noise around one or two. With Todd (Cantwell) it took time because we wanted the discussions to make sure it was the right time for everyone.”
Rangers have their own players out of contract in the summer, including midfielder Ryan Jack. Beale said: “Ryan is playing really well right now. For him right now it is about being healthy and playing. He has been playing well and got involved with goals.”
It’s the second part of the St Johnstone double header for Rangers this weekend after a narrow win at McDiarmid Park in the Scottish Cup last week. They meet in the Scottish Premiership and Beale said: “We are in a good run of form. It was a big week for us last week. We needed to find our form as a football club again.”
Ianis Hagi could make his return after a year out and Beale said: “Ianis Hagi will be in the squad. It’s been a year since he has played a game. I’m delighted to have him back. He isn’t ready for 90 minutes. To have him and Todd Cantwell is great. We feel in a really strong place with those two available. They have been great in training. It gives us a lot of variety and competition for places.
“Antonio Colak will be back in the squad. Kemar Roofe is not far from returning to training. He has some mobility in that shoulder already which is great. I want the competition as we need a squad that can play 60+ games.”
