Todd Cantwell has been ‘confirmed’ to be heading to Rangers after Blackburn Rovers reporter Rich Sharpe denied the club have bid £1.5M for the Norwich man, and he is expected to become a Rangers player.
After media reports alleged a £3M bid had been turned down by an ‘unnamed Championship club’, some outlets claimed the club in question was the Ewood Park ex-Premier League champions, only for Lancashire Telegraph’s Sharpe to debunk it.
He said:
“My info is that Rovers haven’t made a bid for Todd Cantwell and the expectation is he’ll be heading to Rangers.”
Rangers appear to have the path clear to, at the very least, secure a precontract with the midfielder, and try to work their way to nudging the deal into being a release this window, if they can bid enough to persuade Norwich to part company with the player.
Rangers’ budget this window is to be very limited, we’re well aware of this, but a signing like Cantwell is a very shrewd piece of business, for if manager Michael Beale can tap into that potential, Rangers have a truly top-class player on their hands, and crucially, a fit one.
But all we know for sure for now is that Blackburn Rovers, it seems, are not the side who bid for the 24-year old, a bid that was reportedly rejected, and it has left the path clear for Rangers to finalise this deal.
£3M+ would be a huge investment for Rangers to make this window, and would be the biggest expenditure ever seen in a transfer window at this time of the year for the Ibrox giants, but Cantwell may be worth it to say the least.
Are Rangers really going to invest that much? We just do not know.
Bear in mind, Ross Wilson rather impressively got £5M-rated Ianis Hagi for effectively free after managing a buy now pay later at just £1M per year for three years. Hagi will be fully paid off this year.
As for Cantwell, it’s looking very close, and he’s a very good addition indeed. Certainly someone who, if we can get the best from, is a really, really top class player.