Steve Bruce has confirmed that West Brom have ‘agreed’ to sell Cedric Kipre but the reported Rangers target is staying in England, via Ian Abrahams’ Instagram account.
Was it that calamitous own goal in last week’s pre-season friendly with Leyton Orient that hammered the final nail in Kipre’s Hawthorns coffin?
After falling out of favour once Bruce replaced Valerien Ismael last season, Kipre’s otherwise impressive performance against League Two opposition felt rather moot as he misplaced a simple back pass under pressure and was left feeling rather red-faced as the ball trickled over the line.
And, with Bruce confirming that a deal has been ‘agreed’ with another Championship club, the former Wigan Athletic defender won’t even get the chance to silence his doubters in a Baggies shirt.
Rangers linked Cedric Kipre leaving West Brom
“We’ve agreed (a deal) with another club,” says the former Newcastle United boss, before admitting that Kipre is on his way to another team based in England’s second tier.
“I’m going to leave it at that and see if you can get it.”
Now that sounds like a challenge.
There are certainly plenty of Championship sides who would be willing to take a punt. This, after all, is a defender who, before a rather ill-fated spell in West Bromwich, proved himself to be a reliable second-tier centre-back.
But with Kipre staying in England, we can bring an end to speculation linking Kipre with Rangers. A chapter definitively closed.
The Glasgow giants first took notice of the France-born Ivorian during his time at Motherwell back in 2018. The Birmingham Mail reported in May that Rangers were considering a move this summer.
That was before Connor Goldson signed a contract extension. Nikola Katic has returned to Ibrox too, while Filip Helander will soon be back in contention. And that’s without mentioning newcomer John Souttar, or the highly-rated Leon King.
As far as Kipre is concerned, there is no room left in the Ibrox inn.
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