Josh Doig has agreed to move to Marseille after the Rangers target “refused all other proposals available to him”, according to Santi Aouna.
The Foot Mercato journalist reported via X on 12 January that the Scottish left-back only wants the French club, who are in advanced negotiations with Hellas Verona.
Rangers had hoped to bring Doig to Ibrox in a move that saw Ridvan Yilmaz in the opposite direction, but while the Turk is still heading to Serie A there is instead a £4.3million deal to send the 21-year-old to Ligue 1 on the cards which is expected to be closed on Friday night.
🚨🔵⚪️🏴 #Ligue1 |
◉ Josh Doig a donné son accord à l'OM et a refusé toutes les autres propositions qui s'offraient à lui. Il ne veut que Marseille❗️
◉ Negociations avancées avec le Hellas Vérone. L'OM espère que sa dernière offre sera acceptée pour de conclure l'affaire ⏳️ pic.twitter.com/WmoCAonuie
— Santi Aouna (@Santi_J_FM) January 12, 2024
Aouna wrote: “Josh Doig gave his agreement to OM and refused all other proposals available to him. He only wants Marseille.
“Advanced negotiations with Hellas Verona. OM hopes that its latest offer will be accepted to conclude the deal.”
While it certainly doesn’t feel like a positive move for Yilmaz to head to Verona without Doig coming to Glasgow it looks like it was impossible to convince him of anything but a switch to southern France.
The money involved would have been steep for the Light Blues to shell out on a left-back when striker looks to be the main priority for Philippe Clement this month, but an arrangement could have potentially been reached to delay the cost until the summer if two players were moving in either direction.
There is possibly an argument to pull the plug on Yilmaz’s loan to Italy since the reciprocal element of the move has apparently failed, unless Clement and his staff have an alternative already lined up.
Were it a matter of Doig being amenable to a return to the SPFL and just the finances between the clubs being the issue then perhaps there would have been some wiggle room.
But if the former Hibs man has made a categorical decision that it is Marseille or nowhere then it looks like there isn’t much that Rangers can do to change that.
With Borna Barisic’s future also routinely questioned, and an alternative to the 31-year-old Croatian as the starter long-term required either way, Yilmaz leaving is only going to make that a more pressing concern.
The position has been a difficult one ever since Calvin Bassey was sold to Ajax following his eye-catching performances in the run to the Europa League final under Giovanni van Bronckhorst, and it looks like it is continuing to prove complicated again this month.
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