Why Rangers must sign £4.3m star for McInnes instead of Luke Graham

Glasgow Rangers went into the summer transfer window already knowing that they would need to do multiple pieces of business in the central defensive positions.

The Light Blues had Derek Cornelius and Nasser Djiga on loan at centre-back in the 2025/26 campaign and it remains to be seen whether or not either of them will return to Ibrox.

They have already moved quickly to agree a deal with Atalanta to sign centre-back Ben Godfrey on a season-long loan with an option to make it permanent next summer.

The former England international was in Glasgow on Sunday to undergo a medical and any remaining formalities before the club can officially announce the deal this week.

Godfrey is not the only centre-back on the club’s radar, though, as they are also reportedly battling it out to sign Dundee star Luke Graham for £1.3m, with Stoke City, Derby County, and Portsmouth also in the race for his signature.

Rangers eyeing move for Swedish central defender

The left-footed star may favour a move to England because his manager, Steven Pressley, suggested that he has ambitions of playing in the English Premier League.

Supporters should not be too disappointed if the club miss out on a deal for Graham, though, because the Ibrox giants are reportedly keen on an even better centre-back option.

According to the Daily Record, Derek McInnes is lining up a move to sign Sandefjord central defender Zinedin Smajlovic in the summer transfer window.

The report claims that Glasgow Rangers and their Scottish Premiership rivals Celtic are both interested in a deal to bring the Swedish star over to Scotland in the coming weeks.

Martin O’Neill’s side have already had an offer of £3.5m turned down by the Eliteserien team, and it has been reported that it could take a fee of roughly £4.3m to secure his services.

It now remains to be seen whether or not the Light Blues are prepared to pay the asking price to beat their city rivals to the signing of the central defensive star this summer.

Zinedin Smajlovic would be better for Rangers than Luke Graham

Graham is an attractive target for Rangers because he is a homegrown, young, and Premiership proven talent who could arrive for a fee of just £1.5m, slotting straight into McInnes’ squad.

Smajlovic would cost around £3m more to bring to Ibrox, given Sandefjord’s £4.3m valuation, but it could be worth it when you consider his performances in Sweden this year.

The 22-year-old star, who is the same age as Graham, has started ten matches in the Eliteserien in the 2026 campaign, and showcased his impressive defensive attributes at the back.

Smajlovic averaged more defensive interventions per match than the Scotland U21 international did for Dundee in the Premiership, which suggests that he could be an even more effective defender for McInnes by cutting out more opposition attacks.

The Sweden U21 international also won 61% of his duels, after winning 62% of them in the Eliteserien in 2025, which shows that he can be incredibly dominant in physical duels, which is important in a physical league like the Premiership.

On top of his impressive defensive statistics, Smajlovic averaged 1.3 successful dribbles per game, with an 81% success rate, which shows that he is effective at driving forward with the ball to get his team up the pitch.

This suggests that he has the technical ability, mobility, and forward-thinking mentality to excel as a Rangers centre-back in a team that will play on the front foot and be expected to have plenty of the ball, as he can bypass an opposition’s press by dribbling.

Therefore, the Swedish star would be an even better signing than Graham to go alongside Godfrey because of his defensive qualities and his superior ball-playing skills in comparison to the Scottish ace.