Ross Wilson set to battle Monaco to bring star defender to Ibrox
Soccer Football - Scottish League Cup Semi Final - Rangers v Heart of Midlothian - Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - November 3, 2019 Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson before the match Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
The Daily Express are running with a tale of Ibrox interest in William Pacho of Royal Antwerp.
The Belgian League is one of the most heavily scouted in Europe with relaxed employment laws allowing clubs to scout extensively worldwide before players become naturalised.
At the age of 21 Pacho is a regular in the Antwerp defence and likely to move on for a few multiples of the £1.7m that was paid in the summer to sign him from Independiente del Valle, at that time Ross Wilson splashed out £10m on Ben Davies and Ridvan Yilmaz.
The Express reports:
Rangers are reportedly keen on Ecuadorian defender William Pacho who plays for Royal Antwerp in Belgium.
The 21-year-old centre-half, who made an impressive 24 appearances for the Belgian League side this season is reportedly attracting interest from the Ibrox club but competition for his signature comes in the form of previous big spenders Monaco in Ligue 1.
Rangers already recruited ex-Liverpool star Ben Davies in the summer but Michael Beale admitted he could look to bolster in key areas.
Pacho was handed a major vote of confidence by receiving a call up to the World Cup squad for Ecuador, but didn’t make an appearance in Qatar.
According to Niewsblad, the Gers are interested with the youngster previously moving from boyhood club Independiente del Valle to Antwerp for around £1.7m in January of last year.
The kid is on a five-year deal in Belgium so may take a significant offer to prize him away, as he prepares to face off with ex-Celtic boss Ronny Deila and Standard Liege at the end of the month. Yet the report claims Rangers have scouted the youngster but it is unclear how Antwerp value the player in terms of a fee.
As soon as Monaco was mentioned you can forget about a move to Ibrox. With a five year contract and interest from a rich French side, bidding for Pacho will probably start at around £10m with the player unlikely to be attracted to the prospect of playing alongside Tav, Connor Goldson and Borna Barisic.
Chat about a swoop to bring Ross Stewart to Ibrox seems to have ground to a halt.