Rangers Open Talks for Highly-Rated Midfielder as They Move Into Pole Position for His Signature
Every close season brings its own defining project for a football club, and for Rangers this summer, that project is unmistakably centred on the middle of the park. After falling short in their bid to reclaim the Scottish Premiership title last season, the Ibrox hierarchy has made it clear that a full-scale midfield rebuild is underway, one designed to address the shortcomings that ultimately cost them silverware and to future-proof the squad against the anticipated departure of one of their most important performers.
The early stages of that rebuild have already produced tangible results. Rangers have completed the signing of Dan Neil, a central midfielder who arrives with a wealth of experience from English football, and the club is simultaneously working several other angles in the market as it looks to reshape the engine room from top to bottom. What’s emerging is a picture of a club being proactive rather than reactive — lining up multiple options across different profiles and price points, rather than waiting until the transfer window’s closing days to scramble for reinforcements.
Neil’s move to Ibrox represents a significant coup for Rangers, both in terms of the player’s ability and the timing of the deal. Speaking after putting pen to paper, the midfielder expressed genuine enthusiasm about the switch, describing it as the beginning of a new chapter in his career and stating how much he was looking forward to what the coming years at the club could bring. It’s the kind of statement that will resonate with supporters eager to see new arrivals show real hunger and ambition rather than simply viewing a move as a convenient step on a career ladder.
Neil also spoke candidly about his time in England, reflecting on his years at Sunderland and the particular pressure that comes with representing a club where every match carries real weight for supporters — games that, in his own words, can make or break a fan’s entire weekend. That sense of understanding the emotional stakes involved in top-level club football, and thriving rather than wilting under that pressure, is likely to endear him further to a Rangers fanbase that demands exactly that kind of resilience and mentality from their players.
From a footballing perspective, Neil brings genuine pedigree. He was a key figure in Sunderland’s push through the English Championship, playing a significant role in their promotion campaign back in 2025, and he followed that up with another promotion-winning season, this time with Ipswich Town. Across his time in the Championship, Neil made 44 appearances during a regular season for the Black Cats, a workload that speaks to both his durability and his importance to whichever side he was representing. His underlying numbers during that spell — averaging 1.9 tackles per 90 minutes and 1.1 interceptions per 90 — paint the picture of a combative, defensively engaged midfielder who does plenty of the unglamorous work that allows more attacking teammates to flourish.
While Neil doesn’t arrive with any direct experience of Scottish football, his track record of winning promotions in a notoriously difficult English second tier suggests he is more than equipped to handle the step into a new league and a new football culture. Rangers will be hoping that this proven ability to perform under pressure translates seamlessly into the demands of challenging for major honours north of the border.
Neil’s arrival, however welcome, doesn’t fully answer the question marks hanging over Rangers’ midfield this summer. The club remains braced for the departure of Nicolas Raskin, a player who has become one of the more dependable and influential figures in the middle of the park during his time at Ibrox. With his exit widely expected before the new season gets underway, Rangers have understandably continued to explore the market for further additions, recognising that Neil’s signing alone may not be sufficient to fully offset the loss of a player of Raskin’s calibre and experience.
This has led the club to open discussions on multiple fronts, working to ensure that whoever eventually replaces Raskin in the side is capable of stepping into a similar role without a significant drop-off in quality or output. It’s a sensible strategy — rather than trying to identify a single, direct successor and pinning all hopes on landing that one target, Rangers appear to be casting a wider net, exploring several avenues simultaneously to maximise their chances of getting the recruitment right.
One of the names at the centre of Rangers’ midfield search is Vanja Dragojevic, the Partizan Belgrade captain who has emerged as a serious target for the Ibrox recruitment team. Discussions over a potential deal for the Serbian have been ongoing, with Rangers keen to add a player who brings not just quality but also leadership experience, given his role as captain of his current club.
Dragojevic’s situation adds an interesting dimension to Rangers’ broader midfield strategy. Signing a club captain from a major Serbian side would represent a clear statement of ambition, and it would bring into the squad a player already accustomed to the responsibilities and pressures that come with being a senior figure in a dressing room — attributes that could prove valuable in a Rangers squad undergoing significant transition this summer.
Alongside the Dragojevic pursuit, Rangers have now entered the race for another highly-rated midfielder: Ryan Fosso of Austrian side Sturm Graz. According to reporting from trusted Sky Sports journalist Sacha Tavolieri, whose transfer information is widely regarded as reliable within the industry, Rangers have not only opened talks over a potential deal for Fosso but have also moved into pole position to secure his signature.
That said, Rangers are far from the only club showing interest. Spanish outfit Levante have already gone as far as submitting a concrete, formal offer for the midfielder, underlining the seriousness of their interest and putting pressure on Rangers to move quickly if they want to get ahead of the competition. Italian side Torino have also been credited with ongoing interest, meaning Rangers will need to fend off suitors from two other major European leagues if they are to successfully complete a deal.
This kind of multi-club interest is often a strong indicator of a player’s growing reputation. Fosso, at just 24 years old, has clearly caught the eye of recruitment departments across several countries, and the presence of a confirmed bid from Levante in particular suggests that any deal for Rangers won’t necessarily be straightforward, even with the reported claim that they currently hold the strongest position in the race.
For supporters unfamiliar with the player, Fosso is a 24-year-old defensive midfielder who holds two caps for the Cameroon national team. He moved to Sturm Graz back in January, with the Austrian club paying a reported €900,000 (roughly £768,000) to sign him from Dutch outfit Fortuna Sittard. That fee provides a useful reference point for what Rangers, or indeed any of his other suitors, might expect to pay this summer, though transfer valuations can shift considerably depending on form, competition for signature, and how a selling club chooses to value a player mid-way through his development.
Since arriving in Austria, Fosso has made 14 appearances for Sturm Graz, contributing one goal and one assist during that stretch. While those attacking numbers are relatively modest, they aren’t the primary reason clubs are showing interest in him — Fosso’s game is built around defensive solidity, positional discipline, and the sort of underlying work that doesn’t always show up prominently on a stat sheet in terms of goal involvements but proves invaluable to a team’s overall structure.
When Sturm Graz completed his signing back in January, sporting director Michael Parensen didn’t hold back in his praise for the new arrival, highlighting the player’s athleticism and game intelligence as standout qualities, along with his dynamism and the type of mentality the club felt they had been specifically searching for in that particular midfield role. Public endorsements of that nature from a sporting director, made at the point of signing rather than after a long track record has been established, often reflect genuine internal excitement about a player’s profile and potential — precisely the kind of qualities that would explain why Rangers, Levante, and Torino have all been paying close attention to his progress in Austria.
One of the more interesting subplots to emerge from Rangers’ midfield rebuild is the statistical comparison between their newest signing, Dan Neil, and their prospective target, Ryan Fosso. Both players operate in similar defensive midfield territory, and their underlying numbers offer a useful lens through which to assess how they might complement or compete with one another if Rangers do end up completing deals for both.
During his time at Sunderland, Neil averaged 1.9 tackles per 90 minutes and 1.1 interceptions per 90 — solid numbers that reflect a player heavily involved in his side’s defensive work, particularly in a competitive English Championship where physical duels and turnovers of possession are frequent. Fosso, by contrast, posted even stronger defensive figures during his time with Fortuna Sittard in the Eredivisie, averaging 2.3 tackles per 90 and 1.5 interceptions per 90. On paper, at least, those numbers suggest Fosso may offer an even more combative defensive presence than Neil, potentially making him a slightly different profile of player rather than a straightforward alternative.
Of course, comparing statistics across two different leagues — the English Championship and the Dutch Eredivisie — always comes with caveats. Playing styles, tempo, and defensive expectations vary considerably between competitions, so these numbers should be treated as indicative rather than definitive. Still, taken together, they paint a picture of two players who share a defensively-oriented approach to midfield play, each bringing genuine substance to the ball-winning side of the game that Rangers have clearly identified as a priority this summer.
Perhaps the most relevant comparison, from a Rangers perspective, is not between Fosso and Neil, but between Fosso and the departing Raskin. Raskin has often operated in a deeper role within Rangers’ midfield setup, dropping into positions where his ball-winning ability and distribution have proven vital to how the team builds attacks from the back. Given that Fosso’s profile — a primarily defensive midfielder with strong tackling and interception numbers — mirrors much of what Raskin has provided during his time at Ibrox, there’s a reasonable case to be made that the Cameroonian could serve as something close to a like-for-like replacement, at least in terms of his defensive positioning and role within the team’s structure.
That said, slotting seamlessly into a Rangers first XI is far from guaranteed, even for a player with an appealing statistical profile. Neil’s experience of English football, including two promotion campaigns, gives him a level of proven pedigree that Fosso, for all his promise, simply hasn’t yet had the opportunity to demonstrate at a similar level. Should both players end up at Ibrox, it’s entirely plausible that Fosso initially finds himself competing for minutes rather than walking straight into a starting role, with Neil’s track record potentially giving him the early edge in McInnes’ plans.
All of this midfield activity — the Neil signing, the Dragojevic talks, and now the pursuit of Fosso — points to a clear and deliberate strategy being executed under Derek McInnes this summer. Rather than making a single reactive signing in response to Raskin’s expected exit, the club appears to be building genuine depth and competition across the middle of the park, ensuring that no single departure leaves the squad short-handed heading into a new campaign.
This kind of layered recruitment approach — bringing in proven Championship experience in Neil, exploring a leadership-focused option in Dragojevic, and chasing a statistically excellent defensive midfielder in Fosso — suggests a coaching and recruitment team working from a well-thought-out blueprint rather than simply reacting to circumstances as they arise. For a club that fell short in last season’s title race, addressing the perceived weaknesses in midfield with this level of thoroughness could prove to be exactly the response needed to close the gap on their rivals.
Securing Fosso’s signature, however, will not be straightforward. The presence of a confirmed, concrete bid from Levante means Rangers cannot afford to be complacent, even if reports currently place them in the strongest position among his suitors. Spanish clubs offer an obvious appeal to many players in terms of league profile, weather, and lifestyle, and Levante’s willingness to formalise their interest with an actual offer demonstrates a seriousness of intent that Rangers will need to match, and ideally exceed, if they want to win this particular race.
Torino’s continued interest adds a further complication. Italian football carries its own significant pull for players looking to test themselves in one of Europe’s traditionally storied leagues, and a move to Serie A might hold genuine appeal for a player still relatively early in his career and looking to build a reputation on a bigger stage. Rangers will need to make a compelling case — both in terms of playing time, project, and financial package — to convince Fosso that Scotland represents the best next step for his development, ahead of the alternatives being dangled by his Spanish and Italian suitors.
From Sturm Graz’s perspective, any sale this summer would represent a notably quick turnaround on their investment. Having paid €900,000 to bring Fosso in from Fortuna Sittard as recently as January, cashing in again just months later would suggest either an offer significant enough to represent a substantial profit, or a pragmatic recognition that the player’s stock is unlikely to get much higher without sustained Champions League or top-five-league exposure. Austrian clubs have developed something of a reputation in recent years for identifying undervalued talent, developing it further, and moving players on for healthy profits — and if Fosso does depart this summer, it would fit neatly into that established pattern.
Ultimately, Rangers’ pursuit of Fosso encapsulates the broader story of their summer transfer window: a club determined not to be caught out by the departure of a key player, working multiple angles simultaneously, and showing a genuine willingness to compete with clubs from Spain and Italy for talent that fits their specific tactical requirements. Whether it’s Fosso, Dragojevic, or another name yet to emerge, the clear priority under McInnes this summer is rebuilding a midfield capable of not just replacing what’s being lost through Raskin’s expected exit, but potentially improving on it altogether.
For supporters, the coming weeks promise to be eventful, with multiple midfield storylines unfolding in parallel. The Fosso pursuit, in particular, offers a compelling subplot — a race against two other clubs from different leagues, for a player whose underlying numbers suggest he could be an excellent tactical fit, even if questions remain about how quickly he could establish himself as a first-choice starter given the presence of a more experienced option in Neil. As talks continue and Rangers look to leverage their reportedly strong position, all eyes will be on whether Ibrox can get this deal over the line before Levante’s concrete offer, or renewed interest from Torino, forces their hand.
