Will Rangers have clearer run at Louis Moult thanks to Derby County’s summer activity?

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Derby County were ready to battle Rangers for Louis Moult in the summer – but have far more striking options available to them now.

Reports in the Scottish Sun that Rangers could renew their interest in Motherwell striker Louis Moult have come as little surprise. After all, the paper claims that the Ibrox giants wanted to sign him in the summer – but were unwilling to meet their Scottish Premiership opponent’s asking price.

Yet, with Moult rejecting a new deal and his contract expiring in the summer, Rangers will hope to land the 25-year-old on a reduced fee in January.

And although the report claims they have competition from Hibernian as well as Championship duo Millwall and Brentford, Rangers may find that they have a clearer route to signing the former Stoke City youngster at the second time of asking.

After all, there is no mention of Aberdeen, who had a number of bids rejected by Motherwell in the summer. And it appears that Derby County are no longer in the race with manager Gary Rowett hardly short of attacking options.

Second time lucky?

The Scottish Sun reported in May that The Rams were interested in a player who had scored 30 league goals in the last two seasons north of the border. Considering that Derby were the lowest goalscorers in the top ten last season, their interest made sense.

Since then, however, not only have they welcomed Chris Martin and Andi Weimann back into the fold following loan spells at Fulham and Wolves, David Nugent has shown signs of finding form again while Sam Winnall (below) arrived on a temporary deal from Sheffield Wednesday on transfer deadline day.

Consequently, Rowett has plenty of attackers to choose from and there’s no real room for Moult in the attack.

Reported interest from Brentford and Millwall suggest that Rangers still have to battle Championship competition but the London duo, who are sitting 23^rd and 17^th in the table after five games, surely represent a less enticing destination than a Derby side who have fought for promotion frequently in recent years and have one of the UK’s most highly-rated young coaches at the helm.