Rangers transfers: Michael Beale nears first signing as ace agrees move, striker bid rejected, Ryan Kent plea

Michael Beale is yet to make his first signing as Rangers manager but the Ibrox boss is keen to add to his squad and could be close to landing one target.

Following a 3-2 win over Kilmarnock on Wednesday night, the team’s record under Beale stands at played eight and won seven, including progressing into the Viaplay Cup final. There is still a need to strengthen the team with a number of key players out injured, including Kemar Roofe, Antonio Colak, Ianis Hagi, Tom Lawrence and Steven Davis who will miss the remainder of the season.

Rangers are, however, nearing the signing of Norwich City midfielder Todd Cantwell. According to Football Scotland, an agreement is now in place between the club and player and a fee agreed with the Canaries. It could be quite a coup with the 24-year-old attracting interest from Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven as well as clubs in the English Championship.

Cantwell’s current contract expires at the end of the season. He fell down the pecking order under former boss Dean Smith and does not feature in new manager David Wagner's plans. The player will depart having played more than 120 games for the club and with two promotions to the Premier League under his belt.

“Todd was an excellent player when he was young and playing against my Liverpool Under-23s,” Beale said earlier this month. “I thought he would go on and have a fantastic career. He had that at the start and he is maybe just looking for a move to re-ignite it but I think he is a fantastic player at a good age.”

Whittaker bid

There is less positive news on another front. Rangers have reportedly had another bid rejected by Swansea City for Morgan Whittaker. The 22-year-old is a key target for the Ibrox club as Beale looks to add more goals to his frontline, especially with injury issues in the final third.

Swans boss Russell Martin had previously revealed a club, believed to be Rangers, had a bid rejected. According to Fabrizio Romano, the Welsh outfit have rejected a new bid of around £1.5million for the forward who has attracted interest from English clubs after a successful loan spell with Plymouth Argyle in the first half of the season.

Rangers are reportedly close to signing Todd Cantwell. (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images)

Beale revealed he was not aware of any bid from Rangers when asked after the win over Kilmarnock.” I would say that he was one of the better if not the best player in League One in the first half of the season and unless they have recalled him to play him, they must have recalled him to move him to a higher level," he said. "I think he is a good player but there is nothing more than that. And that is not what I have been told in-house.”

Meanwhile, former Rangers striker Kris Boyd believes the club have got to give Ryan Kent “everything he wants” to keep him at the club beyond his current contract which expires at the end of May. "I’ve said it for weeks, it will probably be the same scenario as Connor Goldson," he said. “It might be over the summer that the fans think he’s going to leave and then he stays.”

The winger addressed his future on Wednesday when speaking with Sky Sports.