Malik Tillman has effectively confirmed he wants to stay at Rangers, and it is now up to Rangers and parent club Bayern Munich to negotiate a fee this summer to secure his passage to Ibrox.

Rangers manager Michael Beale already admitted he wants to keep the boy beyond his loan, ‘if we can find a way to do it’, and from our information Tillman’s purchase clause in the loan is around £4.5M.

Rangers, would, of course, work a way to reduce that price, but all parties are happy with the potential transfer as things stand so nothing is standing in the way of it happening.

Bayern have no use whatsoever for Tillman, he’s not good enough to play for them and they’re happy to sell him, but they want a good number for him, at least, a decent enough one not unlike what Genk got for Hagi.

Rangers want him 100% and Beale has confirmed his high praise on the USA international, who was extremely unfortunate to miss out on Qatar. And now the player himself has admitted he’s happy to stay long term if a deal can be struck for him, and Ross Wilson is pretty good at negotiating favourable terms for Rangers.

Tillman is one of the few summer signings Beale clearly truly likes, having completely avoided most of the rest of them in both of his starting lineups, and he’s one the manager seeks to keep, with his emphasis on quality 10s as part of his setup.

But what cost? Well Ianis Hagi also had around £4.5M as his fee, but Director of Football Ross Wilson got Genk down to £3M and at a £1M a year deal, so he may try to work something similar here for the playmaker.

If Rangers secure Tillman permanently, that will be he, Hagi and Alex Lowry going forward as the manager’s 10s, and it’s a decent selection. It’s not the big strong Joe Aribo model Michael Beale won 55 with, but it’s still a similar structure.

Time will tell if this is a deal Ross Wilson can get over the line this summer.