'Waving money around' – Journo makes big Rangers claim as they battle Leeds for 6ft 4 colossus
Leeds and Rangers are still locked in the hunt to sign Championship centre-back Kyle Bartley, according to a reliable journalist.
Phil Hay, a senior reporter from the Yorkshire Evening Post, has claimed that Leeds is his preferred choice but that Rangers "seem to be waving money around".
TEAMtalk had previously reported that Swansea wanted to get £6million for their enforcer, who has said that he would like to move.
However, Hay has claimed that it "should happen" for Leeds if they bid £3-£4million.
However, he also added that this would be subject to Rangers putting in a better offer, either to the club or the player.
Football Insider verdict:
It looks like Kyle Bartley will be moving on this summer and it looks like it will be to either Leeds or Rangers. It seems neck-and-neck between them at the moment. Leeds might be his preferred choice, and he knows the club well after his successful loan season in the 16/17 campaign. However, there's lots of uncertainty over their current manager Paul Heckingbottom and we don't expect him to be in place come the start of next season. By contrast, Rangers have one of the most talked-about managers due to start on June 1 and Steven Gerrard is already tempting players that might never have considered Rangers before. Rangers is currently one of the hottest clubs in terms of media spotlight and the the fact that Hay says they seem to be waving money around is interesting. £3-£4million for a player of Bartley's stature is nothing and if they land him and Martin Skrtel, they would have a brilliant backline to work up from. We honestly see this one as a 50/50 flip.
In other Rangers news, Zinedine Zidane delivers verdict on Gerrard at Rangers and makes huge Ibrox claim