Big Rangers move still on, Celtic medical booked, Hearts and Hibs near signings - transfer news

Here is your Thursday evening transfer bulletin as Rangers remain in contention for a marquee signing, Celtic prepare a medical for an imminent new arrival, Aberdeen bid farewell to two players and Hearts and Hibs close in on new signings...

Aberdeen duo head for exit

Defender Richard Jensen has departed Aberdeen in search of regular football. The 29-year-old Finnish international, joined the Dons in August 2023 from Polish side Gornik Zabrze on a three-year deal. In total, he made 41 appearances for the Pittodrie club but spent the majority of last season on loan with Danish Superlige side Vejle Boldklub. “We thank Richard for his contributions during his time at Aberdeen”, said Dons boss Jimmy Thelin. “He has been a model professional and a valuable member of the squad however, at this stage in his career Richard wants regular game time and unfortunately, we cannot promise him that at this moment.”

Meanwhile, striker Pape Habib Gueye is closing in on an £850,000 move to Turkish side Kasimpasa. The Senegalese front man has arrived in Turkey for a medical having agreed a lucrative four-year deal.

Conor Coady of Leicester City is still on Rangers list of transfer possibilities | Getty Images

Big Rangers move still on

Conor Coady could yet become a Rangers player this summer. That is according to a report which claims a deal for the Leicester City defender is still on the cards despite transfer talk cooling down in recent weeks. Russell Martin made the former England international one of his top targets following his appointment but so far a deal has not been agreed. The move looked in jeopardy when new Foxes head coach Marti Cifuentes included Coady in his squad for a pre-season camp in Austria with the 32-year-old featuring in friendlies against FC Koln and Zalaegerszegi. However, the Daily Record report that the move could still happen with Cifuentes now preparing to sanction the player’s departure after initially insisting on pausing any outgoing transfer activity until he had assessed and spoken to his entire squad. Coady is claimed to still prefer a move to Govan although Wrexham have emerged as rival suitors.

Celtic medical booked

Celtic are set to beat a number of European clubs to the signing of Manchester City defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey. The 19-year-old centre-back is due to travel to Glasgow on Friday for a medical before putting pen to paper on a season-long loan deal. Simpson-Pusey stepped into the City defence last season due to injury problems, making six first-team appearances including two in the Champions League - and earned praise from head coach Pep Guardiola. The England youth international was also named EPL 2 Player of the Year after captaining the Man City reserves to the title.

Celtic are also showing interest in Sweden defender Viktor Eriksson, according to a report. The Scottish Sun claim that the 24-year-old Hammarby centre-back, valued at around £2million, has been scouted by the Parkhead side.

Grant Hanley was at Easter Road with former Scotland team-mate David Marshall. Will the centre-half be a Hibs player soon? | SNS Group

Hibs set to sign Scotland defender

Hibs are closing in on the signing of Scotland defender Grant Hanley. The 33-year-old is a free agent after leaving Birmingham City earlier this summer and has held negotiations with Hibs, who are keen to reinforce their defensive options for the upcoming season. Capped 62 times by Scotland, Hanley would add experience to head coach David Gray’s backline. He has been an integral part of Steve Clarke’s Scotland set-up despite finding game-time limited in recent seasons at both Norwich City and Birmingham City. Born in Dumfries, Hanley has never played club football north of the border. He started his senior career at Blackburn Rovers in 2010 before moving to Newcastle United six years later. He switched to Norwich a year later and stayed until last January, becoming club captain and guiding the Canaries to promotion to the English Premier League. He was part of the Birmingham squad that won the League One title last term but made only three league starts. He was in attendance at Easter Road on Thursday night for the Europa League tie against FC Midtjylland.

St Mirren signing arrives early

Malik Dijksteel revealed Stephen Robinson told him what he wanted to hear as he made his move to St Mirren from Cork City ahead of schedule. The Dutch winger had recently signed a pre-contract agreement to join Saints in January following the expiry of his contract at the League of Ireland club. However, the Buddies moved to recruit Dijksteel to Paisley early on a contract until the summer of 2028 for an undisclosed fee.

The 24-year-old, who came through the academy at Feyenoord and whose move is subject to international clearance, told stmirren.com: “I’m delighted. It’s good that I can join now and have a full season here. It allows me to get to know the manager and get to know how he works. The manager said he wants me to be me and be the player that I am. He wants me to beat players, excite the fans and work hard. That’s what you want to hear as a winger. I got to do my first session today. It’s a good squad and everyone is very welcoming. The quality in the group is very good as well. I’ve watched some of the games on TV. You don’t know until you’re in it yourself, but it looks like a good level and I’m looking forward to it.”

Pierre Landry Kabore before a testimonial match for Craig Gordon between Hearts and Sunderland at Tynecastle. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group) | SNS Group

Hearts near double signing

Hearts could have two new players in their squad for Monday night’s Premiership curtain-raiser against Aberdeen after head coach Derek McInnes gave a positive update on the pursuits of midfielder Tomas Bent Mangusson and forward Pierre Landry Kabore.

The Tynecastle outfit are still awaiting Home Office clearance for the arrival of Kabore, with the Burkina Faso internationalist having agreed a move from Estonian outfit FK Trans Narva. They have also struck a deal with Valur to buy Magnusson, a 22-year-old from Iceland, and McInnes is optimistic that transfer will be finalised in the coming days.

“We have done everything we can on Landry, that needs to be said. So, we have done everything on our end that we can. We're just in the land of hopefully the Home Office just rubber-stamping. We don't anticipate any issues.”

On Magnusson, McInnes continued: “Obviously Magnusson is a player that we’re trying to bring to the club. We’re quite well down the line with the process of that but we’re not there yet. And if we do tick all the boxes between now and Monday then we have a chance maybe to get him for Monday night.”