Rangers close in on €4m Helander deal as Sweden star agrees personal terms

Rangers are closing in on the signing of Filip Helander after the Bologna defender agreed personal terms with the Scottish Premiership side.

Rangers have been searching for an international centre-back this summer, and sources close to the player have confirmed to Goal that the Swede has agreed to a three-year deal at Ibrox.

The Scottish giants, managed by former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, have yet to agree a transfer fee with Bologna for the player, but it is understood that an offer in the region of €4 million (£3.6m/$4.5m) should be enough to get the deal over the line.

A departure from Italy seems all but certain for the 26-year-old, who also has an offer from Turkish Super Lig club Basaksehir.

Fellow Turkish outfit Besiktas are also closely monitoring the situation but are yet to make a concrete offer. However, the 6'4" defender prefers a transfer to Scotland over Turkey.

Helander has been playing his football in Italy for four years, having first joined Hellas Verona from his first club Malmo in 2015.

After one season at Verona, he then moved onto Bologna where he made 60 Serie A appearances over three seasons, scoring one goal.

However, the giant defender struggled to find consistent playing time last season after Sinisa Mihajlovic replaced Filippo Inzaghi as coach.

Helander has been capped 10 times by his country and was part of Jan Andersson’s squad at the 2018 World Cup after famously eliminating Italy in a qualification play-off. Sweden would end up reaching the quarter-finals in Russia, losing 2-0 to England.

Rangers boss Gerrard admitted on Tuesday evening that Rangers were closing in on a new defender.

“It will be a permanent deal for a defender,” he stated.

“There is still a way to go but we have had some progress in the last couple of days.

“If things progress as they have in the last 48 hours, I’m hoping something will get done by the end of the week.”

Should Helander complete his transfer to Rangers, he would become the club’s eighth signing of the summer.