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Football

27th Jul 2018

Steven Gerrard sees Rangers’ bid for Kyle Lafferty rejected by Hearts

Simon Lloyd

Two more signings, apparently

That, according to Dave King, is the only transfer business Steven Gerrard has left to conclude at Rangers this summer.

King was speaking ahead of the first leg of the club’s Europa League second round qualifier against Osijek on Thursday. Having returned from Croatia with a 1-0 victory, it’s now emerged that Kyle Lafferty is one of the men Gerrard is hoping to bring to Ibrox.

A bid of £200,000 has been turned down by Hearts for the Northern Irishman and the club are said to have made it known that the offer is considerably short of what they would expect to receive for the striker.

Lafferty has previously played for Rangers between 2008 and 2012, scoring 30 goals. He left the club as a result of their financial difficulties, joining Swiss club Sion as a free agent before moving on to Palermo in Italy a year later.

He returned to the UK with Norwich City in 2014 but was later loaned to Turkish club Çaykur Rizespor and Birmingham City. Lafferty joined Hearts a year ago, having been linked to Edinburgh rivals, Hibernian.

It remains to be seen if Rangers return with an improved offer for Lafferty.

Meanwhile, reports claims the other player being eyed by Gerrard is young Manchester City defender, Kean Bryan, who is said to have held discussions about a move to Glasgow.

Should deals be agreed for both players, the club will have added 12 players to their squad ahead of the new season.