Rangers transfer news: Malmo ‘desperate’ to sign Filip Helander as club chief talks revealed
Malmo have been in contact with exit-bound Rangers defender Filip Helander and are “desperate” top sign him, the Glasgow Times reports.
The Swedish centre-back has been out all season with injury and is part of the five-strong group of senior Light Blues who will be leaving the club as their contracts expire next month, as confirmed by the club on Tuesday (23 May).
The 30-year-old is set to be recognised in a tribute to the departing players at Ibrox at the Wednesday night Hearts game (24 May) and will ultimately leave having played 60 times for the club, with the winner in the Old Firm derby win early last season a highlight.
He is set to make a return to the club where he started his career, as Malmo director of football Daniel Andersson revealed discussions.
He said, via the Glasgow Times: “Of course, we have had contact with him. Right now he is doing rehab training after his injury and the most important thing is that he gets fit and healthy.”
Recovery
It isn’t the way anyone wished to see Helander’s Rangers career come to an end, having missed the vast majority of last season after knee surgery, before being unavailable for the entirety of the current campaign due to issues with his foot.
Arguably the top centre-back in the squad when fit his absence has been keenly felt amid injuries to fellow Ibrox defenders Connor Goldson, John Souttar and Ben Davies this year.
It is a positive that he looks to be landing back on his feet with a return to Malmo once fit, especially since Steven Davis is being kept in Glasgow until he completes his own rehab from an ACL injury.
Michael Beale is likely to need to add a defender this summer as with most positions, with Arsenal’s Auston Trusty linked, and Davies has been mooted as a possible one-season wonder who could possibly be sold to bring in some funds.
Leon Balogun is a free agent having been released from QPR, and was spotted back at Ibrox for the Old Firm derby on 13 May, so could be an option for the manager to sign two years running for two separate clubs.
Souttar’s late-season emergence is a positive sign but his injury record is a worry, and Helander’s plight is at the top of a nightmare list of issues at the position in the past year so it would be a risk to not make at least one signing.
In other Rangers news, a candidate to be the new Ibrox sporting director has suggested two attacking players could be sold to continue the summer exodus.