Rangers short after transfer frustration ahead of new season

Rangers need to act quickly to add to their squad for the Champions League qualifier against Malmo as they continue to struggle in the transfer market.

Manager Ally McCoist has only been able to add one player to his squad this summer, Spanish winger Juan Manuel Ortiz, and saw more targets slip from his grasp in recent days.

Kenny Miller has begun talks with Cardiff City after the Bluebirds succeeded where Rangers failed with a successful offer to Bursaspor for the striker.

The Gers have so far failed to wrap up their pursuit of Carlos Cuellar despite having a bid for the defender accepted by Aston Villa.

Deals for Orebro winger Alejandro Bedoya, a USA international, and Espanyol defender Raul Rodriguez have also fallen through to leave Rangers’ squad looking thin ahead of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League opener against Hearts tomorrow.

And they will have to go with the pool they have for the visit of Malmo on Tuesday night unless they sign someone before the deadline.

Cardiff manager Malky Mackay yesterday confirmed he had begun talks with Miller.

The Championship club have matched Bursaspor’s asking price, which was more than double the £400,000 bid that Rangers failed to bring the 31-year-old back to Ibrox with.

Champions League

Third qualifying round pairings
APOEL Nicosia (Cyprus) vs Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)
Benfica (Portugal) vs Trabzonspor (Turkey)
Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) vs Rubin Kazan (Russia)
FC Copenhagen (Denmark) vs Shamrock (Ireland)
FC Twente (Holland) vs Vaslui (Romania)
FK Ekranas (Lithuania) vs BATE Borisov (Belarus)
Genk (Belgium) vs FK Partizan (Serbia)
HJK Helsinki (Finland) vs Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
Litex Lovech (Bulgaria) vs Wisla Krakow (Poland)
Maccabi Haifa (Israel) vs NK Maribor (Slovenia)
Odense OB (Denmark) vs Panathinaikos (Greece)
Rangers (Scotland) vs Malmo (Sweden)
Rosenborg (Norway) vs Viktoria Plzen (Czech Rep.)
Standard Liege (Belgium) vs FC Zurich (Switzerland)
Zestafoni (Georgia) vs Sturm Graz (Austria)

First legs: July 26/27.
Second legs: August 2/3.