RUSSELL MARTIN is moving quickly to kickstart his Rangers revolution ahead of the club’s crucial Champions League qualifier against Panathinaikos next month.
The former Southampton and Swansea boss has already brought his old Norwich pal Max Aarons to Rangers on loan for the season, while Lyall Cameron has linked up with his new manager and team-mates after penning his pre-contract from Dundee earlier this year.
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Martin still wants at least a couple of more bodies in the door before the season officially gets underway in just a matter of weeks.
One area he’s looking at is a new winger to replace Vaclav Cerny who has returned to his parent club Wolfsburg after spending last season in Glasgow.
Martin did have a promising player lined up to take the Czechia international’s place in the Gers first team.
However, the manager will need to change his plans after seemingly losing out on the race to sign him.
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The player Martin wanted to sign was Kwame Poku, who was Peterborough United’s Player of the Year last term following a standout campaign in EFL League One.
He was also named in the division’s Team of the Season after he scored 12 goals and provided eight assists in 27 league outings.
The 23-year-old is out of contract this summer and Rangers were one of the many clubs that expressed interest in signing him.
At one stage it looked like Poku had all-but sealed a stunning move north of the border to become one of Martin’s firs recruits in Scotland.
The ship has since sailed, though, as we told you last week how he was closing in on a switch to Queen‘s Park Rangers instead.
Now transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has claimed the deal is now official and he’s set to be unveiled as Julian Stephan’s first signing after taking over as boss at Loftus Road this week.
Delivering the major update on social media, Romano wrote: “🔵⚪️✍🏻 Kwame Poku has signed in as new Queens Park Rangers player right now. All sealed. Deal 100% done. Excellent addition for QPR.”
It’s a major blow for the Light Blues as Martin now has less than a month to land another target before the first Champions League showdown against the Greek giants.
Rangers will host the first tie on July 22 and the return leg has been scheduled for the following week on July 30.
They face Club Brugge in their first pre-season friendly on Sunday, July 6.
Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
