Hearts are said to be after £500,000 from Rangers if John Souttar is to make the switch to Ibrox this month.
That is understood to be the player’s preference with the Scotland defender already experiencing an angry backlash to his pre-contract announcement.
The fee being demanded by the Jambos seems excessive for a player with just six months of his contract left who sees his future away from the club.
However, it’s loose change in comparison to the huge windfall that comes with winning the Scottish Premiership this season given there is automatic Champions League group stage qualification.
Hearts, on the other hand, will feel a fully focused Souttar gives them a better chance of sealing a third place finish in the league.
And there is also the small matter of the 25-year-old being cup-tied if he features in the Scottish Cup against Auchinleck Talbot this weekend.
Rangers have to weigh all those factors up before deciding whether to make a bid and history with pre-contracts shows this could run until the final seconds of the transfer window.
Here, Record Sport looks at some of the recent January pre-contract signings made by Rangers, when they made the move after putting pen to paper and if they were a success or failure.
Scott Wright
The most recent pre-contract acquisition and he eventually did make the move from Aberdeen in the January window.
He put pen to paper on January 25 and Dons boss Derek McInnes was frustrated that he was allowed to leave.
McInnes said at the time: “Scott Wright leaving on the last day of the window; would I have wanted to keep him? Absolutely I wanted to keep him. I would have because the boy was committed to us.
“But it’s a board decision. There is money there to come in. So it was disappointing to lose him but I accept it.”
Gers agreed to slash the £350,000 fee they had agreed for Ross McCrorie who was heading in the opposite direction to make the deal. happen.
Steven Gerrard spoke of the value in getting Wright in the door early as it helped him settle in a bid to hit the ground running the following season although he still hasn’t become a first team regular.
Verdict: Jury still out
Jack Simpson
The defender joined from Bournemouth on a pre-contract at the same time as Scott Wright but hasn’t made nearly as big an impact.
In fact, the defender looks to be heading for the Ibrox exit already after just a handful of appearances.
Simpson has failed to impress in his handful of outings and didn’t appear to have the trust of Steven Gerrard and now Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
His pre-contract deal was announced on January 28 but just a a couple of days later he made the move, initially on a six-month loan before the permanent deal kicked in.
Verdict: Miss
Nnamdi Ofoborh
Joined at the same time as Jack Simpson with the pair of them highly rated at Bournemouth.
But instead of moving to Ibrox with with Simpson, he headed to Wycombe Wanderers on loan for the second half of the season.
And, like Simpson, he has also failed to make an impact at Ibrox but for very different reasons completely out of his control.
A routine medical detected a heart issue which prevented him from playing and has yet to feature for the first team.
Verdict: Jury still out
Glen Kamara
Arguably the best pre-contract recruit for the Ibrox club when the Finnish international signed three years ago this month.
But it took time to get him to Glasgow from Dundee in the January window with a bit of negotiating.
Kamara’s pre-contract announcement came on January 5 but it wasn’t until transfer deadline day that a deal was thrashed out.
And the midfielder was signed for just £50,000 which has proved to be an incredible piece of business.
Kamara was sidelined by then Dens Park boss Jim McIntyre after signalling his intention to join Rangers.
McIntyre then granted permission for the 23-year-old to make an immediate switch after insisting it was "best for all parties”.
Kamara made his debut in February 2019 and scored his first goal later that month - in a 4-0 rout of his old club.
Verdict: Hit
Jordan Jones
The Northern Ireland winger penned a pre-contract in the same month as Kamara but it was a very different scenario for him.
Unlike Dundee, his club Kilmarnock stood firm and refused to sell after kicking out a £350,000 bid for for him to make an immediate switch to Ibrox.
And the Ayrshire side were rewarded for their strong stance as Jones played his part in helping the Rugby Park club to a third place finish - including a winner against his future employers.
This is the example that Hearts and Rangers might look to as it shows Gers the cost of not signing the player immediately and the Jambos the benefit of hanging on to Souttar.
But after making the move to his boyhood heroes it didn’t work out for him, not helped when he was one of the players involved in a Covid breach, and is now at Wigan after a Sunderland loan spell.
Verdict: Miss
Josh Windass
Accrington Stanley, Who Are They? You would have thought they were AC Milan the way Rangers transfer dealings went with two of their players six years ago.
It was a sign of the stage the Ibrox club were at in their journey back to the top that it turned into a bit of a saga for two players at English minnows.
Windass and Crooks agreed pre-contract deals with Rangers in January 2016 as they entered the final six months of their contracts.
But Accrington chairman Andy Holt accused the Ibrox men of showing a lack of courtesy by failing to inform them until the players had almost agreed the switch.
He said: "What I’m saying is that Rangers sent me a letter on Jan 3 stating they wanted to talk to players, when I knew all that was left to do was the medical.
"That’s what pissed me off. It’s a bit like asking permission off someone to s*** his wife when he knows you’re already at it.”
Windass was a decent player during a turbulent spell for the club and the fact he was moved on for £2.5 million means it was good business given he was signed along with Crooks for £120,000.
Verdict: Hit
Matt Crooks
The midfielder is currently starring for Middlesbrough and that will come as a surprise to most Rangers fans.
Crooks didn’t make anything like the impression Windass did when the pair of them arrived as he struggled to get into the first team.
Mark Warburton threw him for a defeat at Tynecastle which was the beginning of the end for Warburton and Crooks never recovered.
Verdict: Miss
