Rangers transfer twist as Marseille make £4.3m bid for Josh Doig

Rangers have fresh competition for reported target Josh Doig in the form of Ligue 1 giants Marseille, according to Alfredo Pedulla via Football Scotland.

The Italian journalist, who works for Sport Italia, wrote on his personal website (9 January) that Marseille - coached by former Rangers midfielder Gennaro Gattuso - have made a £4.3million bid for the Hellas Verona full-back.

He added that the Serie A club have asked for a "slightly higher fixed base" and that Marseille's interest may lead to a slightly higher offer.

Football Scotland (10 January) added that Rangers are likely to be priced out of a move for Doig even if Borna Barisic and Ridvan Yilmaz move on this month.

Torino and Udinese are also named as potential suitors for Doig, who is a man in demand this month.

Unlikely

Make no bones about it, Rangers need improvement at left-back and it is an area you feel Philippe Clement will look to improve during the transfer window, especially with Barisic and Yilmaz facing uncertain futures at Ibrox.

However, it is difficult to imagine the Gers are going to have the financial muscle to bring Doig to the club this month, even if they can raise a bit of cash by offloading some of their unwanted players during the next few weeks.

Doig is a man in demand which is only going to make it even more difficult for Rangers as they really cannot afford to be dragged into a bidding war especially as they have other areas of the team they need to strengthen.

So, realistically Rangers probably need to stick a fork in this one because it's done. Even if Doig doesn't end up joining Marseille it cerainly feels as though other teams are in a much better position to pounce than the Gers.

In other Rangers news, James Tavernier exit news has emerged in a January update.