Rangers' bid to sign Jens Hjerto-Dahl looks all but over as new £7.8m development emerges

Cardiff City have blown Rangers out of the water with their latest move for Tromso midfielder Jens Hjerto-Dahl.

The 20-year-old has been strongly linked with a move to Ibrox this summer, after impressing in the 2026 Eliteserien season.

Rangers have already signed Dan Neil and Cammy Devlin to bolster Derek McInnes' midfield options, but a move for Hjerto-Dahl has always been seen as one that could really take the Govan club to the next level.

However, Cardiff have been a constant thorn in Rangers' side during their bid to sign Hjerto-Dahl, and it now seems as though they're going to get a deal done and dusted, with reports in Norway claiming a new £7.8million bid has been submitted.

Ibrox News has previously covered reports saying that Rangers had a £5.3m bid for the Norway Under-21 international rejected by Tromso, who are currently top of the Eliteserien table.

But Cardiff have now outbid the Glaswegians by £2.5m, in a new blow for McInnes and co.

Cardiff bid likely to be accepted by Tromso

According to Norwegian news outlet iTromso on Wednesday, the EFL Championship club's bid for Hjerto-Dahl could be enough for Tromso to accept.

Rune Robertson, who's previously reported on Rangers' bid for the central midfielder, added on X that Cardiff's bid is an effort to beat all other competition - including the Scottish Premiership club - to the punch.

Hjerto-Dahl has scored seven goals and supplied two assists in 14 league appearances in the 2026 season.

At the age of 20, he's already played over 100 competitive first-team games for Tromso, including two games against Kilmarnock in the 2024-25 Conference League qualifiers.

Hjerto-Dahl's form has already seen him questionned about his future at Tromso.

What Jens Hjerto-Dahl has previously said about transfer speculation

Speaking in March, Hjerto-Dahl admitted it was "stressful" seeing himself linked with a move away from Tromso.

“I had to turn off all my notifications. It was so loud that it blew up my phone," he said.

“It was a stressful period. You’re walking around thinking about [your future] all the time."

It's likely that Hjerto-Dahl has grown more comfortable with the talk over his future - because it's not nothing to stop his form in Norway.

The powerful midfielder has scored in each of his last two appearances against Valerenga on 11 July and HamKam on 18 July.

There's little doubt that he'd be a good signing for either Cardiff or Rangers.

Unfortunately for the Gers, it does look as though Cardiff are winning the race because of the spending power they're currently showing.