RANGERS manager Steven Gerrard is hoping to add a centre-back and a centre-forward to his squad before their opening Ladbrokes Premiership game against Aberdeen on Sunday.
The Ibrox manager refused to be drawn on his club’s interest in Hearts striker Kyle Lafferty but confirmed that a deal for Manchester City centre-half Kean Bryan was dead.
Despite that setback, Gerrard is keen to get at least two new players in before the league season gets underway.
Read more: Craig Levein admits Hearts striker Kyle Lafferty has had his head turned by Rangers approach
“I would love that,” Gerrard said after yesterday’s 3-0 friendly win over Wigan. “I hope it is tomorrow. I am in a rush.
“We have loads of targets that we have been monitoring and looking at. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get an agreement with Kean. He wants to keep his options open and we respect that.
“You can see quite clearly today that we need a centre-back so that is
definitely an area that we are trying to add in. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.”
Hearts claimed to have rejected a bid from Rangers of £200,000 for Lafferty on Thursday, but Gerrard said he was in the dark as to what progress was being made, if any, with a deal to bring the Northern Irishman back to his former club.
“Have we made a bid?” he said.
“I have got nothing to say about it, he is a Hearts player. In terms of numbers of bids, I am not aware.”
Gerrard’s desire to get a new forward in quickly comes in part from another new arrival, Umar Sadiq, lacking in match-fitness. According to the Rangers boss, the big striker - who got a debut goal as he came off the bench at Ibrox yesterday – has a long way to go before the Rangers supporters will see the best of him.
Read more: Craig Levein admits Hearts striker Kyle Lafferty has had his head turned by Rangers approach
“He is probably 50 per cent through his pre-season,” said Gerrard.
“I wanted to show the supporter a glimpse of him - they can’t wait forever to see him. But being brutally honest he’s probably not ready just yet.
“He probably needs another two to three weeks to sharpen up - he is probably 60 to 70 percent fit. Then he is going to need game time to be the finished player.
“But I think you saw glimpses today of why we brought him in. He is a handful, he has pace, he is difficult to handle when he is aggressive.
“So, I was pleased with bits of his play today - but we are not going to see the real Sadiq for three or four weeks.”
Gerrard insists though that he wasn’t overly frustrated by where Sadiq was in terms of his overall fitness when he arrived at the club on loan from Roma.
“No, not really,” he said. “People need a rest over the summer and European clubs start later than us.
“You are trying to get the signing over the line soon as we can to give him as much time as possible to get fit.
“It’s a little bit frustrating he hasn’t had the time, but we have to be patient. Morelos is firing - so there is no desperation to push him too fast.”
Josh Windass sat out of the friendly, but Gerrard insists his absence was entirely innocent, despite reports linking him with a move to England.
“He has got a knock on his ankle so he wasn’t fit for selection unfortunately,” he explained.
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