Four targets available for nothing: Rangers must prepare January pre-contract offers in a bid to chase Celtic

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Rangers should be looking to strike pre-contract agreements with a host of contract rebels in January.

Rangers’ recent 2-0 defeat to Celtic summed up the gulf that still remains between the two sides, and the Gers have to find ways to try and chase down their Old Firm rivals.

Manager Pedro Caixinha was backed with £8million worth of new signings over the summer, and whilst that was almost twice as much as Celtic spent, the two teams approached the transfer window from very different angles.

Celtic only needed to add a couple of calculated signings, such as Olivier Ntcham, Jonny Hayes and Kundai Benyu, but Rangers required a full-scale overhaul, with Caixinha bringing 11 new faces to Ibrox.

There isn’t an unlimited pot of money for Caixinha to work with moving forward, meaning Rangers must be planning right now to offer out pre-contract agreements to some of their top summer targets who escaped their grasp.

Over the summer, Rangers were linked with moves to sign Aberdeen midfielder Kenny McLean, Hearts winger Jamie Walker and Motherwell striker Louis Moult, whilst St Mirren wide man Lewis Morgan is another player on the Rangers radar.

All four players are out of contract at the end of the season, meaning Rangers should have pre-contract agreements lined up for all four players in a bid to sign them all for free at the end of the season – or essentially force their clubs to sell for knockdown prices in the final six months of their contracts.

Add in that loanees Declan John and Aaron Nemane are also out of contract and could sign for free, and January could be a huge month for the make-up of the Rangers squad under Caixinha, with deals plausible for all six players named here.

To chase down Celtic without the same financial backing, especially in terms of wages, Rangers must find other ways to close the gap – and signing top Scottish Premiership talents, as well as young loanees from England, in bargain deals is one of the smarter ways to go about it.