Rangers

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Nedim Bajrami has joined Saudi club Al Taawoun on a season-long loan deal.

The Albania attacking midfielder signed for Rangers in 2024 from Sassuolo but has never nailed down a starting place at Ibrox, scoring seven goals in 63 appearances.

Al Taawoun also have an option to make the transfer permanent.

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Rangers are set to sign Japanese winger Daisuke Yokota from Hannover in a deal worth up to €4m. (Fabrizio Romano on X), external

Frosinone have rejected an £8m bid from Rangers for Fares Ghedjemis, days after Celtic had a £6m offer for the Algeria winger turned down. (Sky Sports), external

Rangers defender Ben Godfrey will be out for four weeks after injuring his hamstring in Friday's Scottish Premiership draw with Dundee United. (Scottish Sun), external

Read the rest of Tuesday's Scottish gossip.

Clive Lindsay
BBC Sport Scotland

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They have to beat Jagiellonia Bialystok first, but Rangers' path to the Europa League is now clearer after Monday's draw for the play-offs.

As the team with the second highest coefficient in the whole of qualifying behind Benfica, Derek McInnes' men should be confident of making it through.

Jagiellonia finished third behind Lech Poznan and Gornik Zabrze in the Polish top flight and both of those lost in their Champions League qualifiers last week.

However, Lech famously let a 4-1 lead over AGF Aarhus of Denmark slip at home before exiting on penalties, while Gornik were only beaten 2-1 on aggregate by Fenerbahce.

And Jagiellonia sit second in the Ekstraklasa on goal difference behind Legia Warsaw after two games, beating Motor Lublin 2-1 away from home on Friday.

Should Rangers progress against the Poles, they should find the play-off round that bit easier given they have been paired with the winners of the tie between Northern Irish champions Larne and Iberia Tbilisi of Georgia.

Larne, who won the title for the third time after finishing three points clear of Coleraine, did manage to reach the Conference League group stage for the first time two seasons ago.

However, after beating Tre Fiori of San Marino in the first round of Champions League qualifying this season, they were thrashed 9-0 on aggregate by Red Star Belgrade.

Iberia 1999 are lower ranked than Larne having won just four of their 12 European ties since making their debut in 2019.

They won their domestic title for a second year running last year and currently lead Rustavi by two points after 19 games.

Should Rangers lose to Jagiellonia, they will again fancy their chances against Jablonec of Czech Republic or RFS of Latvia in a Conference League play-off.

Jablonec finished fifth domestically last season and have only once got beyond the qualifiers, reaching the Conference League group stage four years ago after losing 7-2 on aggregate to Celtic in their earlier Europa League qualifier.

RFS finished second behind Riga in their domestic league last season and currently sit joint top with Auda but with a game in hand.

They lost home and away to Hearts in the 2022-23 Conference League and reached the Europa League two seasons ago but lost to Hamrun Spartans of Malta in the Conference League play-off last season.

Rangers have been drawn against either Northern Irish champions Larne or Iberia Tbilisi of Georgia in the Europa League play-offs should they defeat Jagiellonia Bialystok of Poland.

If Derek McInnes' side lose in Europa League qualifying, they will meet Jablonec of Czech Republic or RFS of Latvia in a Conference League play-off.

Rangers will be at home for the first leg of either competition on 20 August, with the return a week later.

What do you think of the draw and the Ibrox side's chances of reaching the league stage of either competition?

Give us your thoughts.

Cologne are favourites to sign Mikey Moore on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, with talks at an advanced stage amid interest from several clubs for the 18-year-old winger who spent last season with Rangers. (Fabrizio Romano on X, external)

Frosinone have knocked back Celtic's opening offer of around £6m for Rangers-linked Fares Ghedjemis and, although the Serie A club want to keep the 23-year-old Algeria winger, talks are ongoing between the clubs. (Sky Sports, external)

Hull City are set to beat Rangers and Cardiff City to sign 20-year-old midfielder Jens Hjerto-Dahl from Tromso. (Daily Mail, external)

Hull City have emerged as the front-runners to sign Jens Hjerto-Dahl after Rangers withdrew from the race to sign the midfielder. (Football Insider, external)

Rangers have held discussions with Brighton & Hove Albion over Amario Cozier-Duberry, but the Premier League club are in no rush to part with the 21-year-old winger after rejecting a £5m offer from Anderlecht. (Daily Record, external

Former Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has revealed he turned down the chance to return to Ibrox as he did not want to return to Scotland and leave his family in the Middle East and harboured doubts about the club's recruitment. (Open Goal podcast, external)

Read Monday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Rangers are in talks with Coventry City over a deal to sign 23-year-old winger Jahnoah Markelo. Football Insider, external

Scotland defender Scott McKenna is not an active signing target for Rangers, with the Ibrox club exploring a potential loan from Dinamo Zagreb several weeks ago then moving for Olwethu Makhanya instead. Scott Burns on X, external

Algeria winger Fares Ghedjemis, a transfer target for both Celtic and Rangers, was absent from the Frosinone squad for their pre-season friendly against Benevento. Scottish Sun, external

French clubs Paris FC and Nice are showing interest in former Rangers captain James Tavernier, who is a free agent after leaving Ibrox in May. Ben Jacobs on X, external

Rangers fans, we asked you for your thoughts after the 1-1 draw with Dundee United that opened the Scottish Premiership season. Here's a taste of what you had to say...

Colin: No difference from last year. Terrible football and never looked close to winning. Going to be a long, long, long season fighting for second place. Sad times.

Jim: Desperately needing quality on the flanks. Need that to stretch opposition sides to create goal-scoring opportunities.

Jazz: Here we go again. A stuttering start and before we know it, the league will be finished again. I know it's the first game but with the manager's tactics going back to last year, nothing changes.

Sally: Rangers have no midfield creativity! Cammy Devlin is a stopper, not a creator. Aasgaard was the best Rangers player. If Raskin wants to play for Rangers, give him what he needs. Youssef Chermiti and Ryan Naderi are a striker partnership in development.

Derek: First game and it's the usual - playing catch up! Still loads of dead wood. Early days but far from impressed with Dan Neil. As for Chermiti, a simple-squared ball to Findlay Curtis was on, but instead a weak tame shot. Poor decision-making.

Alex: Not the worst start or performance, but not great either. Didn't keep our width and attack the byeline enough. Final third quality was lacking overall. It's just the first game, so no need for overreactions, but we need to improve and be much more ruthless.

Alex B: Dear me, I've waited weeks for this, so underwhelmed. Ross McCrorie was an ex-Rangers player for a reason, he was woeful. Centre-half taken on off and replaced by another right-back. When there is a central defender sub available, he wasn't any better than the last five games from last season.

Liam: Biggest mistake here was the lack of friendlies to build confidence, especially with the new recruits. Why wait for first competitive game? Gassama and Naderi would not be in my starting XI selection.

David: Really disappointed. Same old, same old. New faces but no meaningful improvement. We still struggled to create in the final third and didn't win many of the 50/50 balls. Big improvement needed very quickly, Mr McInnes, or winning the league could be very unlikely after the first Old Firm.

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Rangers and Celtic are both chasing winger Fares Ghedjemis of Frosinone, although the 23-year-old Algerian is thought to be keen on staying in Italy with a bigger club. Scottish Sun, external

Rangers are preparing to strengthen their squad with up to four further signings but a plethora of exits are likely to be sanctioned first, including the sale of prize asset Nico Raskin. TeamTalk, external

New Rangers signing Olwethu Makhanya could miss the Europa League tie against Jagiellonia Bialystok due to a visa issue. Glasgow Times, external

Rangers were held to a 1-1 draw at Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership curtain-raiser as the Derek McInnes era got off to an underwhelming start at Tannadice.

Give us your thoughts here.

Read the match report here.

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Rangers manager Derek McInnes tells BBC Scotland: "We worked hard to get back into it but I don't think we were good enough to win the game.

"I thought the point was the right scoreline and we're disappointed with that.

"First half, we wasted a lot, we didn't create too much, and it was a bit too frantic.

"We never really connected the game well enough or looked after the ball well enough, and we lost a poor goal from our point of view.

"I thought the half-time changes helped us, but the approach from the players in the second half was really good.

"You see the desire to get the equaliser wasn't quite mirrored with the desire to go and get the winner. I just thought we played in fits and starts after that.

"What we need to do when we look in charge is make sure we don't make silly mistakes and give the opponent encouragement.

"After the equaliser, for five minutes I felt we made too many little mistakes and need to communicate better and deal with that situation better."

Rangers fans, we asked for your views on newly-signed South Africa defender Olwethu Makhanya.

Here are some of your replies:

Rhys: All I hope he is better than the other MLS signings we have made previously in past seasons.

Ronald: Seems like a good buy since it looks as if John Souttar is leaving.

David: A needed squad addition but he's a project. He's young and this is a totally new environment for him, no experience of Scottish football and far from the 'seasoned streetwise professional' that Andrew Cavenagh set out as the spec for new signings. This is a risk, just like Emmanuel Fernandez and Nasser Djiga. It took them months to acclimatise.

Dave: Looking forward to winning the league this year. Makhanya should be a really good signing. Tall, strong, fast and twoo-footed. Defence much stronger with him.

Henry: I think Souttar has lost an extra yard of pace required at the back. Although still a decent player he is no longer good enough for Rangers.

Tony: Makhanya a great signing - now we're hoping to win everything. I'm confident we'll make a winning start against Dundee United.

Image source, Rangers FC/Dundee United FC

Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin has a fully fit squad for their Scottish Premiership season opener at home to Rangers on Friday.

On-loan Queens Park Rangers winger Daniel Bennie has arrived since United qualified for the Premier Sports Cup last 16 by topping their group and the 20-year-old could make his debut at Tannadice.

South Africa centre-back Olwethu Makhanya signed for Rangers on Thursday from Philadelphia Union and is one of eight summer arrivals aiming for competitive debuts along with manager Derek McInnes.

The former Hearts boss hopes Norway's Thelo Aasgaard and Australia's Cammy Devlin will recover from knocks picked up in their friendly draw with West Ham United.

But fellow midfielder Connor Barron is building up his fitness, while Jose Cifuentes, on loan with Toronto last season, has had an operation and also misses out.

Rangers are in talks with Al-Taawoun about an initial loan move to the Saudi Pro League for 27-year-old winger Nedim Bajrami that could eventually be worth £2.5m. (Scottish Sun, external)

Rangers have accepted an offer from Saudi Pro League club Al-Taawoun for winger Nedim Bajrami. (Dakir Mohamed Thanveer on X, external)

Rangers are no longer pursuing 20-year-old Tromso midfielder Jens Hjerto-Dahl as manager Derek McInnes targets a right winger instead. (Daily Record, external)

Rangers are still targeting two additions in defence and plan to add two wingers who can operate from the right, but another addition in centre midfield is not a current priority. (Rangers Review, external)

Bologna are set to meet with Lewis Ferguson to iron out his future at the club with new head coach Domenico Tedesco keen to retain the 26-year-old Scotland midfielder amid interest from Rangers and clubs around Europe. (Il Resto del Carlino, external)

Andreas Skov Olsen was a huge flop at Rangers because they were a "long-ball" team last season, according to John Lammers, who is assistant with Istanbul Basaksehir, where the 26-year-old winger is now on loan from Wolfsburg. (Glasgow Times, external)

Read Friday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Derek McInnes believes a Rangers victory over Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership curtain-raiser on Friday night would be a "good step" in his first game in charge.

McInnes moved from Hearts to Rangers earlier this summer having been pipped to the Premiership title by Celtic last season.

McInnes is ready for "the real stuff" to get under way after a 2-1 friendly win at home to French side Saint-Etienne and a goalless draw against West Ham at Ibrox in pre-season.

"Friendlies serve their purpose and I'm glad they're over so we can get down to the real stuff," McInnes said.

"We still have work to do, but I'm delighted with what we've managed in terms of signings and the effort the players have put in.

"They've worked extremely hard, been very willing to listen and do what we're asking, and they've been first-class in terms of effort.

"As a staff, we need to help them along and winning games helps, especially for a young team.

"Getting that early confidence, starting with a win at Dundee United away, would be a good step for us, but we know it will be a tough match.

"I've got full admiration for all Premiership managers, but Jim has done well over a sustained period and is very experienced.

"There's a lot of turnover at many clubs every summer now and he's clearly dipped into different markets – Eastern Europe and more recently a lot of Australian and New Zealand lads.

"He's recruited from a variety of areas, like many clubs do, but he always gets a tune out of his teams and they're always difficult opponents."