Rangers transfer interest in Millwall defender Jake Cooper is ‘real’ amid contract negotiations
Rangers interest is “real” in Millwall centre-back Jake Cooper as the club looks to land a left-footed defender, according to The 4th Official.
The Scottish football outlet reported via Patreon on Friday (18 August) that the English defender, who is in the final year of his contract at The Den, is indeed in the sights of the Light Blues, with a left-footed centre-back and a winger the remaining “priorities” in the transfer market.
Michael Beale re-signed Leon Balogun earlier this summer as cover for injury to Leon King, but has been linked to various other defenders to strengthen his injury-prone group.
Millwall boss Gary Rowett told South London Press on Thursday that despite “a lot of speculation out there” the Lions’ “focus is on him signing a new deal”.
And Carlton Palmer has admitted that he would be “very surprised” if Cooper, 28, didn’t extend his time in South London amid long-term interest from Ibrox.
Windows closing
Not only is the transfer window down to less than a fortnight before it shuts but indications are that the opportunity to steal in for a Cooper deal is also narrowing if Millwall are still working on a new contract for him.
Should he sign extended terms at The Den then any move is surely off for the foreseeable future, so if Beale has a genuine intent to get him before then he will have to be quick.
His Rangers side isn’t clicking yet, although the lack of fluency in attack has started to overshadow previous questions over the quality of the back line.
On their day the squad looks strong enough to compete with most, but so far there haven’t been many examples in the new season of days that were theirs.
Connor Goldson remains the top choice with John Souttar probably the primary deputy, but after Jack Butland was forced to keep the Gers in the tie in Servette in midweek it appears the defence is a work in progress just as the forward unit is.
Whether Cooper would actually be the answer to that in terms of competing in Europe is another matter, but the tall Millwall veteran appears to be a genuine target at the moment.
In other Rangers news, a Sky Sports pundit believes that Beale has a “big issue” at the moment after what he saw this week.