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Rangers bring forward deals to sign Scott Wright, Jack Simpson immediately

Both players agreed pre-contracts last week.

Scott Wright and Jack Simpson are both set to complete immediate moves to Rangers.

Both players agreed pre-contracts last week but Wright will sign a four-and-a-half-year deal before the deadline after Rangers agreed to give Aberdeen an £150,000 discount on Ross McCrorie, the PA news agency understands.

Gers agreed to slash the £350,000 fee they had agreed with Pittodrie bosses to make loan player McCrorie’s Dons move permanent in the summer and the Scotland Under-21 captain will now become an Aberdeen player outright.

Rangers have decided to push ahead with the Wright deal after agreeing to allow Brandon Barker join Oxford on loan.

Jonjoe Kenny, right, is set for Celtic Park
Jonjoe Kenny (right) is set for Celtic Park (Jon Super/PA)

Simpson has arrived in Glasgow with George Edmundson on his way to Derby on loan.

Everton right-back Jonjoe Kenny is poised to sign a loan deal with Celtic. The 23-year-old has made 48 appearances for the Toffees and comes in as a short-term replacement for Jeremie Frimpong, who left for Bayer Leverkusen last week.

Manager Neil Lennon said: “He’s a player I have liked for a while. He is at Everton obviously and had a very good career at England youth at under-21 level and I watched quite a bit of him last season when he was on loan at Schalke.

“I like his qualities, his enthusiasm for the game, his character, and I think he will bring that to the team. He is a bubbly sort of personality and he plays that way as well.”

Celtic had hoped to complete a pre-contract deal for centre-back Ben Davies but Liverpool saw an offer for the 25-year-old accepted by Preston on Sunday.

Ben Davies
Preston’s Ben Davies was close to a Celtic deal (Nick Potts/PA)

“It’s a blow because we were very close to doing that and obviously we got gazumped at the last minute by Liverpool,” Lennon said.

“He lives in that area and I’m sure financially it would have been quite rewarding for him as well, so (we’re) disappointed but we move on. It’s not the first time it’s happened to us or myself as a manager.”

Lennon is understood to have rejected loan offers for defender Stephen Welsh and confirmed Celtic were looking at other centre-back options, while French midfielder Olivier Ntcham is in talks with Marseille over a loan move.

“I think he is looking for a fresh start, or to progress his career elsewhere, and he has made that clear over a long period of time,” Lennon said.

Florian Kamberi is set for Pittodrie
Florian Kamberi is set for Pittodrie (Steve Welsh/PA)

After selling Sam Cosgrove to Birmingham on Sunday, Aberdeen are hoping to tie up loan deals for former Hibernian forward Florian Kamberi and Scotland Under-21s and Reims striker Fraser Hornby.

It is understood the Kamberi deal has been agreed and, on Hornby, assistant boss Tony Docherty said: “He is certainly a player we really admire and would be a good addition.”

Both Kevin Nisbet and Ryan Porteous trained with Hibs on Monday after the club rejected bids from Birmingham and Millwall respectively last week.

Head coach Jack Ross said he was unaware of Birmingham launching a fresh bid on Sunday, before reports broke that Nisbet had handed in a transfer request.

Hibernian’s Kevin Nisbet is in demand
Hibernian’s Kevin Nisbet is in demand (Jane Barlow/PA)

Stevie Mallan is in Turkey to sign a loan deal with Super Lig side Malatyaspor.

Ross said: “I think he has now completed all his necessary medicals and as I understand it, I think it’s just subject to international clearance.”

Livingston are close to signing a foreign player on loan in what would be their last piece of business of the transfer window.

Manager David Martindale said: “I’m trying to get one in the door and it’s ongoing. We haven’t had any phone calls about our players.”

Midfielder Robbie Crawford ended his Livingston career by making a loan move to Motherwell a permanent switch until the end of the season.

Fir Park chief executive Alan Burrows earlier stated that they were hoping to “add one or two before midnight”.

Dundee United defender Lewis Neilson has been linked with a switch to Leicester, Hamilton have been tipped to sign Aberdeen striker Bruce Anderson on loan, while St Johnstone hope to be busy.

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin is looking for one more signing.

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin
St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin hopes to add another player before the window shuts (Andrew Milligan/PA)

“We are working on one or two things,” he said. “It’s not the end of the world if we don’t get one in but I do think we need a little bit more cover in the back line, a left-sided defender preferably because we lack a little bit of balance at times.”

Kilmarnock are still looking to push through some late deals despite parting company with manager Alex Dyer on Saturday.

Head of football operations James Fowler said: “We were looking to add one or two players anyway before the manager left. That process has continued.”

Ross County boss John Hughes does not expect to be busy despite Ross Stewart’s departure to Sunderland on Sunday.

“I think we have done our business,” he said. “There’s one or two things on the go but it is just basically us making enquiries and we’ve never heard anything back and that’s it.”

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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Celtic1514104444043
2Aberdeen16104230181234
3RangersRangers1510232791832
4Dundee UnitedDundee Utd156632215724
5Motherwell157171823-522
6Dundee165472729-219
7St Mirren165381926-718
8Ross County163671230-1815
9St Johnstone1642101829-1114
10Kilmarnock163581734-1714
11Hearts163491825-713
12Hibernian162681828-1012


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