Nottingham Forest have seen an approach rebuffed by Rangers for full-back James Tavernier, according to the Scotsman.
The newspaper claim that Forest manager Mark Warburton had tabled a bid that would have seen him re-united with the 25-year-old defender, after the pair worked together at Ibrox.
Warburton had been in charge at Rangers between June 2015 and February 2017, and had brought Tavernier to the club from Wigan two years ago. He has since been ever-present in the first-team.
However, Warburton’s attempts to bring his former colleague to Nottingham Forest ahead of the 2017-18 season has been met with an emphatic response from Rangers.
But the Championship club are expected to return with an improved offer, with Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha prepared to offload the player this summer.
Caixinha sparked a mass overhaul of the first-team squad at Ibrox following the end of last season, and has already signed up eight new players.
However, the Portuguese must now balance the books, and it is understood that Tavernier, despite his regular first-team status, is a player that could be headed for the scrapheap.
Tavernier has made 94 appearances in all competitions across his two full seasons at the Scottish club, contributing 17 goals and 30 assists.
Nottingham Forest, meanwhile, are looking to strengthen the core of their squad after narrowly avoiding relegation to League One last season.
Warburton has already returned to Scotland to snap up Hibernian goalscorer Jason Cummings, but he is looking to raid his former stomping ground for more proven talent in the coming months.