Rangers are set to be given permission this week to hold talks with Derek McInnes about becoming their new manager, according to the Herald.
The Scottish newspaper claim Aberdeen will give the green light for McInnes to speak with the Gers if they agree to pay £1.5million in compensation for him.
The Herald report that the Rangers board appear to have made McInnes their number one choice to replace the sacked Pedro Caixinha.
The 46-year-old signed a one year contract extension in the summer which ties him to Pittodrie until 2020.
It is said that the level of compensation a club will have to pay to secure McInnes’s services increased from £1million to £1.5million when he agreed his new deal.
McInnes is the bookies’ favourite to replace Caixinha – seven months after he was overlooked in favour of the Portuguese – as Rangers look for their 17th permanent manager in 145 years.
Other names in the running to replace Caixinha include Alex McLeish, Michel Preud’homme and Sam Allardyce.
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 on Saturday 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.
Aberdeen beat Ross County 2-1 at the weekend to close to within a point of Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic.
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 were also distinctly unimpressed last week when he said that Celtic are unbeatable.