MICHAEL BEALE has dropped a huge hint on where his priorities lie in the upcoming transfer window.
Forwards. And lots of them.
Michael Beale, who bid “good riddance” to Rangers’ trophy-less season[/caption] Striker Alfredo Morelos will leave Ibrox, and Beale knows he needs replaced[/caption]Beale is approaching his first full off-season as Rangers boss and as early as March had given his recruitment team a list of five players he wanted to sign.
Former England youth international star Kieran Dowell has joined the Light Blues from Norwich already, while goalkeeper Jack Butland is believed to be on his way to Glasgow after agreeing to a wage compromise.
Last night, SunSport revealed that Troyes striker Ike Ugbo, who Beale knows from Chelsea, is being tracked by the Ibrox side.
Dujon Sterling, another former Chelsea starlet, is close to a move to Rangers as well.
The club have also shown interest in Ecuadorian midfielder Jose Cifuentes and Honduran winger Luis Palma.
As he prepares to welcome more additions, he said there won’t be movement for at least a few weeks but that “three or four” are close to being completed.
“There’s three or four deals that we know are there,” said Beale. “Obviously we announced Kieran yesterday but there is a lot of talking and negotiating going on at the moment.
“I’m in a really positive place with how things are going. As a manager, until you see a player in training you can never be concrete, but I’m really pleased with the way it’s going.”
Rangers will finish this season trophy-less, losing out to Celtic in the League Cup final and in then the Scottish Cup semi-final, as well as trailing them in the Premiership.
To try and rein in their Old Firm rivals, Beale is targeting more potency up to.
Celtic scored 109 goals in the league this season to Rangers’ 90.
And Beale said: “Good riddance to this season and we will come back next season and we will give it a right good go.
“I’m relishing a reset, to have a really strong pre-season and bringing in new players that will bring in new energy and enable me to really fully imprint my ideas on the team.
“Certainly, in the final third, I think that’s an area where, although we win a lot of games and score a lot of goals, we are also a team that miss a lot of chances.
“Wednesday night was a prime example.
“So, we’ll be looking to bring some players in there with some pedigree to add to what we’ve got and hopefully that makes us more potent.
“The transfer window opens on the June 14 but there’s still a lot of football being played so although there’s some bits going on in the background nothing will be announced imminently.
“The team at the moment is not having too many problems against anyone we play against in Scotland right, it’s just in the penalty box we need to be a bit more ruthless.
“In terms of general football and the level of our team I’m happy, but you have to take your chances and that’s a key part of my thinking.”
Pressed on the importance of finding a new number nine, Beale dropped a hint that he isn’t looking to stop after adding one.
With Alfredo Morelos and Antonio Colak both set to leave the club, the Gers boss was asked if a new striker was top of his list.
He replied: “Strikers – in general.
“We’re losing players in that area of the pitch and it’s an area we want to strengthen.”
Beale told how he’s been driving the recruitment team mad ever since the departure of sporting director Ross Wilson to Nottingham Forest.
He said: “My excitement for this summer is because I see the work we are doing in the background. We are very close and if we get the players in, the team will come out in a much stronger place than the team I’d left before.
“The recruitment staff have heard I need these players in early just about every day for the last two weeks, I think I’ve drove them mad a little bit since I’ve been the main person in control of the recruitment.
“I’ve been away meeting players in between games and training session. Everyone is on the same page, that we want people to be in for the start of pre-season but we may need to be patient on one or two.
“Most of our work we’re aiming to get done very quickly.
“We’re probably going to do a bit more work than you would in a normal summer, you’d like to just be adding one or two but this summer we’re gonna be adding more than that.
“We want players to come in and be key players.”
In terms of a number, Beale wouldn’t commit but said it would be “around four or five”.
While the likes of Ryan Kent and Morelos are still relatively young, they’ve played plenty of football and have sampled European football at the highest level too.
So when you add in the departures of club stalwarts such as Allan McGregor and Scott Arfield, there’s a danger this Rangers team could end up left short on experience.
Beale revealed he won’t be rushing to sign ageing veterans to fill that void, instead outlining the type of “big club” player he wants.
He said: “I think experience of being in Europe, of playing for big clubs, playing at the top of leagues is more important than age, so we won’t be signing any veterans.
“In terms of experience, big club experience, being able to come in and handle playing at Ibrox and the pressure, intensity and expectation, that’s what I’m looking for.
“So when I’m meeting players there’s something on their CV or in their past that I can hang on.”
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