Rangers set to be rivalled in race for 20-year-old midfielder’s transfer
Rangers are bracing themselves for a transfer tug-of-war in their quest to sign key summer target Jens Hjerto-Dahl from Norwegian side Tromso.
Hjerto-Dahl, 20, is understood to be one of the Glasgow giants’ major targets, having been left impressed by the imposing 6ft 4in midfielder’s performances for his hometown club in recent months, with a £5.3million bid rejected for the midfielder last week, according to several reports.
Also linked with a move to the Turkish Super League side Besiktas, the player himself admitted he would have a preference for a move to Rangers, saying: “It’s more appealing than going to Turkey. If you look at the series as a whole, I don't think the Turkish league is that much better. Turkey has three or four teams that are very big and good, but Norwegian football is starting to reach a very high level.”
Rangers have already added midfielders Dan Neil (pictured) and Cammy Devlin to their squad this summer.placeholder image
Rangers have already added midfielders Dan Neil (pictured) and Cammy Devlin to their squad this summer. | SNS Group
However, newly promoted EFL Championship side Cardiff City have joined the race for Hjerto-Dahl’s signature and have tested the waters with Tromso by launching a £5.5million bid in order to tempt him to move to the English second tier. According to Sky Sports, that bid has been rejected, though, with the Romssa Arena outfit determined to hang on for their desired fee of £6.8million plus add-ons.
The Norway Under-21 international has seen his stock rise considerably in recent months after an excellent start to the Eliteserien season, in which he already has eight goal contributions in 13 games, including one in the 4-0 thrashing of Valerenga at the weekend. Tromso head coach Jorgen Vik confessed he didn’t want to lose the player last week, but reluctantly accepted that some offers will likely be too tempting to reject as interest mounts in his signature. “In every club, players have their price”, he said.
Likened to Arsenal captain, and fellow countryman, Martin Odegaard due to his ability to dictate from the middle of the pitch, he was previously linked with a move to English Premier League sides Brighton and Sunderland in December, and was included in the 100 best players under the age of 20 by CIES Football Observatory after bursting onto the scene during the 2022/23 season as a teenager.
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Despite the building speculation around his future, Tromso’s director of football, Lars Petter Kraemer-Andressen, has insisted that a move for Hjerto-Dahl is not imminent, saying: “There have been negotiations over the past week. We'll see what happens, it could take a while. Several clubs are interested, but a lot has to fall into place for something to happen.
“If he's going to move on, it has to be a club Jens wants to go to and we also have pretty high expectations for the price. So it's not certain he'll leave. But if he does, we have a lot of good players, so we won't be much worse off if Jens disappears. Then we'll always be in the market and alert if something is interesting for us.”