Rangers have no interest in Norwegian striker Erik Botheim
Rangers have “no interest” in signing free agent striker Erik Botheim despite recent reports that they were after him, according to the 4th Official.
TEAMtalk had raised the prospect on Thursday (16 June) with a report on wide-spread interest in the former Krasnodar player, who is available on a free after terminating his contract in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
While they reported that a number of English teams were chasing the 22-year-old they said that the Gers had been “informed of his recent availability”.
He has since been widely reported as a target of the Glasgow club, including by BBC reporter Fraser Fletcher who went as far as to say an offer had been put on the table, before a sudden u-turn earlier on Saturday (18 June) to dismiss talk of a move, including his own report, as “rumours” on Twitter.
Now the 4th Official has moved to clarify the situation on his Patreon, stating: “Given the amount of misinformation going out there, I thought it would only be fair to ensure that our supporters here have the correct information.
“I can confirm that there is no interest from Rangers for him. I probably wouldn’t have commented on this as writing about every online rumour is not possible.
“But when not one but two MSM publications started talking about how Rangers are interested in Botheim, it became important to put the record straight.”
The 4th Official, who has over 50 thousand Twitter followers and had knowledge of the Rory Wilson to Aston Villa story that has become clear this month back in May, looks to have strong contacts at the club, so this appears to end speculation.
Why no interest?
If the Light Blues are in no way involved in the race to bring the under-21 international to Ibrox it is somewhat surprising.
He is certainly not entirely proven as it is primarily his 22 goals in 2021 for Bodo/Glimt in his homeland that got him an £8million move to Krasnodar, and now has him on radars across the continent.
But, despite never actually playing for the Russian side after the conflict in Ukraine, he has continued scoring on international duty through June and appears an enticing prospect.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst would appear to need a new option in the central striking area to avoid the situation the club found themselves in at the business end of the season just gone.
With Alfredo Morelos out after thigh surgery and Kemar Roofe knocked out by an injury issue of his own, the Dutchman was not comfortable turning to the now-sold Cedric Itten.
Had he been able to use a natural striker before the closing minutes of the Europa League final it may never have gone to penalties.
Botheim looks like an attractive option to add to the forward department, especially since he is a free agent, but it appears that will not be happening.
In other Rangers news, one summer transfer target is easily available but another will take some manoeuvres to pull off.