Rangers want Saint-Etienne midfielder Pierre Ekwah | OneFootball

Rangers are interested in signing Saint-Etienne midfielder Pierre Ekwah before the transfer deadline this evening, according to French outlet L’Equipe.

Rangers manager Russell Martin is desperate to strengthen across all departments following a winless start to the new Scottish Premiership campaign.

However, the Ibrox club are waiting to sell a player first before making a move for Ekwah.

Rangers will face competition from Levante for the services of the 6ft 2in box-to-box French midfielder.

The central midfielder can also feature as a defensive midfielder, as a left-back or centre-back, and his versatility and quality would be huge for Rangers.

Ekwah, who spent time in the academies of Chelsea and West Ham United, moved to Saint-Etienne from Sunderland on a season-long loan with an option to buy for €7 million in August 2024.

The option to buy was activated earlier in the summer but the French club are open to selling him after relegation to Ligue 2.

Whether Rangers can raise the needed funds to make a move for the Frenchman before 7pm remains to be seen, but they could do with his services in the middle of the park.

They were torn apart by Club Brugge across both legs of their Champions League play-offs fixtures and their goalless draw against Celtic yesterday further exposed their shortcomings in midfield.

The likes of Marseille defender Derek Cornelius and Everton striker Youssef Chermiti are expected to join Rangers today, and Martin is looking to get more quality players in.

The new Light Blues boss has added Bojan Miovsk, Jayden Meghoma, Lyall Cameron, Djeidi Gassama, Thelo Aasgaard, Manny Fernandez, Nasser Djiga, Max Aarons, Mikey Moore, Joe Rothwell and Oliver Antman to his team since his arrival.

However, they are not enough to get Rangers firing on all cylinders and Martin will hope to make more quality signings capable of completing the jigsaw.