Rangers in hunt for international enforcer from English club, may see senior player quit Ibrox - report

Rangers have entered the hunt for Norwich defender Russell Martin, according to a report.

The Daily Record claims that the English Championship side have made Martin, 31, available to leave Carrow Road on a loan deal in the January transfer window due to him not playing a single first-team game since August.

It is understood that Graeme Murty may use his links to Norwich in order to sign up the Scotland international as the Rangers manager previously worked for the East Anglia club.

However the report adds that a move for Martin may throw the future of Bruno Alves into doubt as the summer signing may quit Ibrox if he slips down the pecking order.

The senior player is said to anxious for regular football in the first-team as he looks to try and earn a spot at the World Cup in Russia next summer.

Norwich's defensive enforcer Martin has bags of experience from the Premier League and Championship.

This season he has made just seven appearances in all competitions, however for most of his first-team absence he has been sidelined with a back injury.

Football Insider verdict

Although Martin has not played much this season, he is still an improvement on all the current centre-backs on Rangers' books at the moment and should be very high on Murty's shortlist for January. The Norwich captain has spent the last seven years mixing it with the big boys in England and has been part of three promotion-winning sides at Carrow Road. That knowledge of playing at the top end of a table and of playing against some of the UK's best attacking talent surely will put him above the rest of the current crop at Ibrox. Murty and Mark Allen must work together to get his deal done and dusted as soon as possible.

In other Rangers news, this Gers mainstay is ready to quit Ibrox and is wanted by two English clubs.

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