By support

12th Jun, 2018 | 11:54am

Rangers confident of wrapping up swoop for international defender - report

Rangers are “confident” they can wrap up a deal for Croatian defender Nikola Katic, according to a report, despite facing competition from Spartak Moscow for his signature.

According to the Daily Record, the Ibrox giants believe they are in “pole position” to land the 21-year-old one-time capped Croatia international as Steven Gerrard looks to rebuild the squad he inherited when he took charge on June 1st.

Katic’s agent Mladen Kliskinic is due to hold talks with Russian giants Spartak over a move for the Slaven Belupo defender but the Gers think they can get a deal done and bring the Croat to Glasgow.

Football Insider verdict:

The Gers look to be stepping up a gear when it comes to their recruitment and Gerrard’s side is starting to take shape. The 21-year-old looks to have a good pedigree and should strengthen a Gers defence that shipped far too many goals last season. The Light Blues return to training on Friday and Gerrard will be hoping to get at least one defender in before his squad fly out to Spain over the weekend for a pre-season training camp. Someone like Katic would also be sure to learn from Bruno Alves – if the Portuguese defender stays at Ibrox – and help the Light Blues close the gap on bitter rivals Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership table. Katic can’t be the only defender to come to Ibrox this summer but his signing would definitely be a big step in the right direction ahead of Gerrard’s first season in the hotseat.

In other Rangers transfer news, they are leading the hunt to sign an in-demand attacker from Liverpool.

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