RANGERS were close to signing the Russian league's top scorer Gamid Agalarov this summer before opting for Antonio Colak instead, his agent has revealed.
The Ibrox side splashed out £1.8 million to sign Croatian striker Colak from PAOK in July and he's gone on to become a huge hit at Rangers scoring 13 goals in 18 appearances in all competitions this term.
However, Russian agent Jamal Akaev has revealed how close Rangers came to signing 22-year-old goalscoring sensation Agalarov, who was called up by Russia last year before they were banned from international football by FIFA and UEFA following their invasion of Ukraine.
Agalarov was at FC Ufa and became the top scorer of the 2021–22 Russian Premier League after netting 19 goals during his campaign.
That attracted Rangers to the free-scoring starlet and his agent Akaev revealed he was in high-level discussions with Rangers' sporting director Ross Wilson.
He recalled: "From February onwards, Glasgow Rangers were extremely interested in signing Gamid.
"The club continued to show interest after those events in Ukraine. I have a good relationship with their sporting director Ross Wilson. But It didn't happen.
"Rangers have a Polish scout in Eastern Europe and he watched all of Gamid's matches and asked me for his details.
"But they weren't able to put together a concrete proposal and Rangers signed another striker instead."
After it became clear Rangers weren't going to follow up their interest, Agalarov signed a three-year deal with Akhmat Grozny in a £3.1 million deal.
