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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Robbie Copeland

Rangers transfer state of play on Souttar, Simpson, Doekhi and Simons

It's been a quietly productive transfer window for Rangers so far as the Gio van Bronckhorst era clicks smoothly into gear.

Steven Gerrard's move to Aston Villa back in November threatened to uproot things at Ibrox and rumours immediately began to swirl that he could return in January for the likes of Joe Aribo and Glen Kamara.

But the Premiership leaders have kept a tight ship and while one or two fringe men have moved on - with Juninho Bacuna recently joining Birmingham - things have mostly stayed as they were.

They have improved if anything with James Sands arriving from New York City and Manchester United winger Amad Diallo arriving on loan.

Meanwhile they have also tied down keeper Jon McLaughlin on a new contract through 2024.

However, there's still a couple of days to get more business done with the deadline running through to Monday night and while there isn't expected to be too much upheaval, there could be another couple of tweaks before the window goes into cold storage until the summer.

Here Record Sport take a look at what could still happen.

John Souttar

We know Souttar will be a Rangers player next season - the only thing that remains to be seen is if he'll leave Hearts before that.

Gers are pushing to sign him this month and if Saturday's haphazard 3-3 draw with Ross County is anything to go by, it's easy to see why.

John Souttar has penned a pre-contract with Rangers (SNS Group)

But the Jambos have stood firm so far and Record Sport understands they want a fee north of £500k to sign off on a January exit.

Souttar went off injured in Hearts' win over Motherwell but Hearts boss Robbie Neilson expects to have him back to face Hibs during the week - unless Rangers come back to the table.

He said: “There’s been nothing new with John. Although I saw they lost three goals today so I might get a phone call!

“But at this moment in time there’s been nothing.

“He’s fine. He’s left here and he’ll be back in tomorrow. And I expect he’ll be available for Tuesday if he’s still here.”

The Edinburgh Evening News report that there has been "no further offer" from Rangers up to Saturday night, although that could soon change.

Jack Simpson

It's been a funny old year at Ibrox for Simpson since his move from Bournemouth last January.

The 25-year-old has struggled to make any sort of mark and 90 minutes at left-back against Stirling Albion in the Scottish Cup aren't expected to have turned his fortunes around.

It's believed Rangers will let him go if any approach arrives but so far a lack of interest has stood in his way.

Various Championship clubs in England were lining up a move with Middlesbrough at the front of the queue but that has gone cold.

QPR have also been in the frame though and if there is an approach ahead of Monday's deadline then Van Bronckhorst is unlikely to get in the way.

Danilho Doekhi

Gers may have sealed the deal for Souttar but with Connor Goldson seemingly still set to leave in the summer, another centre-back is still on the agenda.

Doekhi's name has rarely been far from the transfer headlines as the Vitesse skipper finds himself in a similar contract situation to Souttar.

Doekhi is out of contract in the summer (VI-Images via Getty Images)

He's brushed away talk of a January exit but recent reports have suggested he will decide his future beyond the end of the season before the window closes.

The timing of that is certainly curious and you wonder if he may just be trying to keep his options open for a move this month after he decides on his next club.

The 23-year-old is also a target for Dinamo Zagreb but Napoli's earlier interest seems to have cooled.

Xavi Simons

Monday night's French Cup clash between PSG and Nice will likely tell us a lot about Simons' future as the youngster considers his options beyond the end of the season.

The 18-year-old is out of contract in the summer and is keen on a move away unless his prospects of first-team football significantly improve.

Xavi Simons of Paris Saint-Germain has been linked with a move away from the Ligue 1 side (PSG via Getty Images)

After a couple of sub appearances in Ligue 1 he was left on the bench for the 4-0 win over Reims - despite Paris switching into cruise control for the final half-hour.

If he plays no part on Monday night then the Dutch midfielder may well mount a late push for a loan away.

However PSG appear to have missed out on long-standing target Tanguy Ndombele and that may just convince Pochettino to keep him around.

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