Rangers are ready to make an approach for Aberdeen manager in the next 36 hours, according to BBC Sport Scotland.
The broadcaster reported on their website on Saturday afternoon that the Light Blues will make moves “this week” to replace the sacked Pedro Caixinha.
The BBC report that Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes is the preferred candidate to succeed the Portugese, who was sacked on Thursday after a 228-day reign at Rangers, the shortest tenure in the club’s history.
It is said that Rangers will make a move imminently to find out who much it would cost to buy out the contract of McInnes, who has a deal at Aberdeen that runs until 2020.
The Gers ended a difficult week on a high when caretaker manager Graeme Murty steered them to a 3-1 win against Hearts at Murrayfield after they had gone a goal behind.
McInnes, who played down being linked with Rangers on Friday, attracted interest from Sunderland in the summer before agreeing a new contract with the Dons.
The former Scotland midfielder has been in charge at Aberdeen since April 2013 and has steered the club to consecutive runners-up positions in the SPL in the last three seasons.
Last season, the Dons finished nine points in front of a Rangers side managed initially by Mark Warburton and latterly by Caixinha.
OPINION
McInnes is clearly a strong candidate to replace Caixinha, although there are question marks as to whether he is the right candidate. The Scot knows the SPL inside out, has steered Aberdeen to three consecutive league runners-up spots and is well aware of the expectations at Rangers after five years at the club during his playing days, when he won the treble. His trophy count as a manager is just the 2014 Scottish League Cup, a figure which will put off many Light Blues fans, who also claim he lacks the ambition to be in the Ibrox hotseat. His midweek comments that Celtic are unbeatable have also not gone down well among the Rangers faithful.