Rangers roadblock emerges as Michael Beale forced to play waiting game for Josh Maja transfer
Michael Beale has enjoyed an encouraging start to his summer transfer plans at Rangers, but his pursuit of Josh Maja has hit a dramatic roadblock.
The Gers boss has already managed to snap up the services of Jack Butland, Kieran Dowell, and Dujon Sterling, as well as Atalanta forward Sam Lammers closing in on a move to Ibrox.
And another striker who looked Glasgow-bound was Bordeaux hotshot Josh Maja.
Rangers Review’s Jonny McFarlane shared (9 June) that he had heard “noises” over the last six months about interest from the Light Blues in Maja over the last six months, describing it as a potentially “absolutely superb” signing.
The 24-year-old has been in fine goalscoring form in Ligue 1 over the last year, netting 16 goals and providing six assists from 39 appearances.
The Nigerian international isn’t out of contract at the French club until 2024, but there is a clause in it that allows him to leave on a free transfer this summer – a deal that will look extremely tempting to the eyes of Beale.
However, any plans for a swift exit will have been thrown straight in the bin after the emergence of a lengthy investigation of Bordeaux’s last game of the season.
The French club’s final game of the season was abandoned mid-game after a pitch-invade attacked a Rodez player, meaning the 3rd-placed side’s promotion ambitions are still unresolved. The fallen giants needed three points to seal their promotion back to the top flight, but the French Football Federation decided to forfeit the match after the incident.
Bordeaux have now launched an appeal, with Football Scotland reporting (15 June) that a decision could take until the end of the summer to be made, and in the meantime, Maja’s future is “up in the air”.
Despite the imminent arrival of Lammers, Rangers need at least two strikers if they want to seriously compete with Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership, so this is a crushing blow for Rangers.
Hopefully, the appeal can be resolved swiftly and the Gers can continue their pursuit of the forward.
In other Rangers news, a pundit has claimed that the Ibrox faithful will love this attacker at the club as Rangers are closing in on another signing.