29-year-old hated by Celtic fans: Three players Derek McInnes must sign for Rangers if hired
COMMENT By Danny Wright
Derek McInnes looks increasingly as though he will be the man hired by the Rangers board to replace Pedro Caixinha.
McInnes, 46, has worked wonders at Aberdeen, leading them to three consecutive runners-up spots in the Scottish Premiership as well as winning their first piece of silverware in 20 years in 2013/14 when they lifted the Scottish League Cup.
The Scotsman reported on Sunday that the Light Blues look set on appointing McInnes as Caixinha's successor this week and will meet the £800,000 compensation fee that has been set by Aberdeen.
Caixinha ran a huge overhaul of the Gers first-team in the summer with varying results.
Some of the players he bought have simply failed to perform or failed to even get a foot in the starting line-up.
McInnes must go into the transfer market in January to try and strengthen the squad further in order to close down the gulf in class between them and Old Firm rivals Celtic.
Here, Football Insider looks at three players that McInnes must try to sign having already worked with them in his career.
Click '2' below to see the first player the Gers must try to snap up
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Kenny McLean
The obvious one.
McInnes has already revealed McLean, 25, will leave Aberdeen at the end of the season no matter what when his contract comes to an end, meaning that Rangers could make a move for him in January.
It probably won't go down well with Dons fans if McInnes instantly raided Pittodrie for one of the club's best players, but he is someone who would walk straight in the Gers first-team.
The 25-year-old can play anywhere in midfield and has been the real driving force behind Aberdeen's rise in stature in recent seasons.
This term, the one-time Scotland international has scored three goals in 18 appearances across all competitions.
Click '3' below to see the forward McInnes worked with at Bristol City
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Sam Baldock
Baldock is now at Premier League new boys Brighton but was a key player at Bristol City during McInnes' two year spell at Ashton Gate.
The 28-year-old striker has not played at all for the south coast side since their promotion to the English top-flight, meaning that he could be available in January if he grows frustrated with his lack of game time under Chris Hughton.
Baldock has played consistently and found the net consistently in his career and could be the perfect back-up for a misfiring Alfredo Morelos, especially with Kenny Miller aging and Eduardo Herrera being simply hopeless.
The Englishman scored 10 goals in 34 appearances as Brighton won promotion from the English Championship last term.
Click '4' below to see the defender that Celtic fans hate and Rangers fans would love
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Shay Logan
While James Tavernier has done nothing wrong, Rangers don't have a great deal of depth at right-back and one injury to Tavernier means that Lee Hodson would have to play.
Hodson is nowhere near the level required and should be binned immediately by McInnes if he comes in and replace him with Logan.
Logan, 29, has been a mainstay at Pittodrie since 2014 and is one of the most trusted players that McInnes has worked with at Aberdeen.
He is one of the best right-backs in the Premiership and signing him would severely weaken the Dons should Rangers look to make a move.
Logan is also hated by Celtic fans because he was the victim of racial abuse from their former player Aleksander Tonev and he has recently mocked them on social media for their loss to Bayern Munich.
Not being liked by the Bhoys would gear him up well for life at Ibrox.
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