Swindon Town hijack plan revealed in Coventry City and Rangers transfer race | OneFootball

Championship side Coventry City and Scottish giants Rangers are reportedly interested in signing Macarthur FC attacker Raphael Borges Rodrigues this summer but Swindon Town have a plan to hijack the move.

That's according to a report from Football Insider, who say that the 20-year-old's form is attracting attention from a number of European clubs.

Rodrigues was born in the Netherlands, before moving to Australia when he was young. He joined Melbourne City's academy in 2017, but only ever made a handful of senior appearances for the club.

The attacker then joined Melbourne City's Australian top-flight rivals Macarthur last summer and has since impressed during his debut year with the club.

In total, Rodrigues has scored six goals and provided two assists in 34 appearances in all competitions for his current club.

As a result, it appears as though the winger is now attracting plenty of interest from elsewhere, ahead of the summer transfer window.

European sides chasing Macarthur attacker

According to this latest update, several clubs are keen to bring Rodrigues back to Europe when the summer window opens.

Among those are Coventry and Rangers, who are both said to be preparing moves for the 20-year-old.

Another side who are thought to be interested are Swindon Town. The League Two side are owned by Clem Morfuni, who is apparently hopeful of using his connections with Australia to win the race for Rodrigues.

For their part, Macarthur are apparently bracing themselves for offers for the signing of Rodrigues once the transfer window opens.

The winger is due to enter the final year of his contract with the A-League side in the summer, which could put them under pressure to accept if a reasonable offer comes in.

Coventry confirmed for another Championship season

Despite making another push for the Championship play-offs this season, Coventry will not be winning promotion to the Premier League this time around.

The Sky Blues are currently ninth in the second-tier standings, eight points adrift of the play-offs with just two games left to play.

They host automatic promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town on Tuesday night, before ending their campaign at home to QPR on Saturday afternoon.

Rangers meanwhile are second in the Scottish Premiership, three points behind league leaders Celtic with four games remaining.

Rodrigues could be a useful Sky Blues signing

It does feel as though the signing of Rodrigues may be a sensible one for Coventry City to make.

With plenty of speculation around the future of Callum O'Hare at the minute as his contract runs down, Mark Robins' side may need reinforcements in the attacking midfielder area this summer.

Bringing in Rodrigues would help offer depth in those positions, with the 20-year-old capable of operating across that area of the pitch.

He also appears to be showing plenty of promise, and at his age, has plenty of time to develop and improve even further with experience.

That means he does have the potential to turn into something of an asset for Coventry in the future, who could earn them a useful return on their investment.

Meanwhile, his contract situation could make Rodrigues an affordable target for the Sky Blues, and beating a club such as Rangers to his signature may represent something of a coup.

With that in mind, there may be an argument that this is a deal worth pursuing for Coventry come the summer window.