OPINION
It seems that Rangers could be struggling to sign Angers midfielder Lassana Coulibaly with the Scottish Premiership club yet to wrap up a swoop for the Mali international.
STV reported last week that Coulibaly, 22, was set to become the Light Blues’ next summer signing on a season-long loan deal from Ligue 1.
However it seems that there could be some difficulties for the Gers as it was reported at the time that his move to Glasgow was dependent on him earning a work permit, but also a latest update by Yahoo Sport France journalist Manu Lonjon on his personal Twitter account suggests that he is also heading elsewhere.
It is now understood that Coulibaly is in fact heading for a loan move to Metz, who were relegated from Ligue 1 last season and a preparing for their upcoming season in France’s second-tier.
https://twitter.com/ManuLonjon/status/1014179508931489792
As Coulibaly has already been playing in France, he would not need a work permit to wrap up that loan move to Ligue 2 and there’s every chance that Rangers’ hopes of signing the midfielder could go up in flames.
STV’s report in June claimed that the Gers had an agreement with Angers, but due to the decreased difficulty in the move being rubbers-stamped and easiness of keeping a closer eye on him, a move to Metz would surely be more beneficial to them.
It’s not ideal for Steven Gerrard who was surely counting on the signing of Coulibaly to bolster his midfield at Ibrox.
However this latest update is surely worrying for the Gers boss and it may suggest that he should start looking elsewhere.