PEDRO CAIXINHA is set to kick-start his Rangers rebuilding job with the signing of defender Bruno Alves by the end of the week.
The Portuguese international is poised to join his countryman at Ibrox and become the first arrival of the summer as Caixinha prepares to overhaul his Light Blues ranks.
The Gers boss has targeted a host of players across the park ahead of his first full campaign in the Premiership and Rangers’ return to the Europa League qualifiers on June 29.
And Alves could now put pen-to-paper to complete a switch from Serie A side Cagliari before he joins up with his national squad for the Confederations Cup.
After rounding off their top flight campaign with victory over St Johnstone earlier this month, Rangers will get back down to business next Monday as Caixinha gets set to put his squad through their paces.
But the 46-year-old could be without the services of Alves for most of their warm-up schedule as he prepares to report for duty with Fernando Santos’ side.
Portugal face Mexico in their first Group A clash on June 18 before a meeting with hosts Russia in Moscow three days later.
Their final fixture is against New Zealand on June 24 and a successful group campaign would then give the Euro 2016 winners a further two ties in the semis and either the final or third place play-off on July 2.
It leaves Alves facing a hectic schedule over the summer but the capture of the former Porto, Zenit and Fenerbahce star will be a major boost for Caixinha ahead of a crucial few weeks on and off the park.
A deal for Aberdeen star Ryan Jack is also all but complete as he gets set to make the move from Pittodrie to Ibrox ahead of the new campaign.
Jack made his final appearance for Derek McInnes’ side in the Scottish Cup final on Saturday and could be given extra time off to rest next month before he looks to hit the ground running in Light Blue.
The Dons captain won’t be the only midfield recruit this summer and Rangers have now made a move to bring Graham Dorrans back across the border from Norwich.
The 30-year-old is keen on a switch to his boyhood heroes and initial discussions have taken place with Canaries chiefs over a deal.
Caixinha is also interested in Mexican international Carlos Pena but faces a wait over a work permit before that swoop gets the green light.
Rangers won’t pursue a move for Motherwell striker Louis Moult, however, as Caixinha eyes other targets to bolster his attacking options this summer.
Defenders Clint Hill and Philippe Senderos have left the club after they weren’t offered extensions to their contracts and the Swiss stopper has been linked with a return to his homeland and a switch to Super League outfit Servette.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel