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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Mark McDougall

Simon Deli 'wanted' by Rangers as Slavia Prague president begs defender to stay

Rangers want to sign Ivory Coast centre back Simon Deli, according to a report.

Steven Gerrard is on the lookout for a new centre back to add to his squad and Deli appears to fit the bill.

The 27-year-old currently plays for Slavia Prague and has a release clause of €2.5million that Rangers were initially unwilling to pay - according to Czech Republic outlet iSport.

But it's reported that things have changed in recent days and Rangers are looking to come to an agreement but face competition from Belgian side Club Brugge.

Deli has seven caps for the Ivory Coast but wasn't selected for the African Cup of Nations taking place this summer.

He's been at Slavia Prague since 2015 after a spell at rivals Sparta and has played 128 for the club in four years.

He started his career at Africa Sports d'Abidjan and also had loan spells at Ceske Budejovic and Pribram.

Deli won the Czech top flight with Slavia in 2017  and was named the second best defender in the league.

Slavia president Jaroslav Tvrdik posted on Twitter to say: "In these hours and days, our football god, Simon Deli, wants to decide whether to accept the offer of Slavia or to go for another challenge.

"Help us convince him to help us return to the Champions League in Eden, and that without him we can no longer imagine Slavia. Please write to him too."

Deli currently has one year left on his deal and has previously had offers from France and Germany.

Rangers currently only have Connor Goldson, Nikola Katic and George Edmundson as senior centre backs while youngster Lewis Mayo was part of the squad that beat Oxford in pre-season.

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