Rangers lead race to sign Luis Palma as Ryan Kent agrees deal in principle with Fenerbahce
Rangers are leading the race to sign Aris and Honduras winger Luis Palma with Ryan Kent on his way to Fenerbahce, according to Transfer Geeks.
The Greek news outlet reported on Friday (5 May) that Kent, 26, has agreed a deal in principle to join Fenerbahce on a free transfer when his contract at Ibrox expires this summer.
It is understood that Fenerbahce were also looking at 23-year-old Palma, 23, who’s performed well in the Greek Super League for Aris this season.
However, with Kent headed to Istanbul, the Gers are now in pole position to sign Palma with their interest becoming more serious as a result of Kent’s imminent exit.
Honduran newspaper Diario La Prensa reported in its print edition on 29 April [pg 227] that the Light Blues are ready to submit a £4.4million bid for the left-sided forward.
Hotting up
With Kent on his way out of Ibrox, Michael Beale has a huge task ahead of him to find a replacement.
In his time at Ibrox, Kent’s form has been up and down, he’s flattered to deceive, he’s been amazing, he’s been frustrating, he’s been a title-winner and he’s been a title-loser.
We cannot afford to have a player as inconsistent as Kent has been with the former Liverpool winger regularly going missing in the big matches against Celtic.
Letting him leave for free is a bad move in itself but spending £4.4million on a player from the Greek league is a huge risk when Beale is unlikely to have a massive budget to play with this summer.
Palma’s had a good season in Thessaloniki, there’s no doubt about that.
He’s scored 13 goals and supplied eight assists in 35 appearances across all competitions.
He’s found the back of the net against bitter rivals PAOK and twice against Olympiakos so he hasn’t shied away from the big occasions in Greece.
However, the Honduran would be a risky signing and we don’t think there’s room for that this summer.
In other Rangers news, the club are clearly playing a sick joke with their supporters after they made an announcement about a senior player.