Rangers have acquired forward Kevin Kelsy from Major League Soccer’s Portland Timbers, a source with direct knowledge of the deal told the Guardian on Wednesday. That source requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the agreement. The deal, worth $13m (£9.5m) – potentially more if Kelsy hits certain performance goals for Rangers – also includes a sell-on fee for the MLS club.
The Athletic’s Tom Bogert first reported details of the deal on Wednesday morning. Portland acquired Kelsy from Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk last January, paying $6m for the Venezuela international. The 22-year-old has been erratic but ultimately productive for the Timbers, scoring 16 times in 43 appearances.
Rangers manager Derek McInnes has been vocal about wanting another striker before the end of the summer transfer window after losing Portuguese striker Youssef Chermiti to an ACL tear in early August. Portland had little intention of moving Kelsy this window, a source said this week, but the fee, a club record for an outgoing transfer, proved impossible to turn down. The Timbers already added a center forward this summer – former Tottenham and Monterrey striker Vincent Janssen – and may make other moves before the window closes.
Portland sit ninth in MLS’s Western Conference, only narrowly in position for the final play-in spot to the playoffs. They have already navigated a coaching change earlier in the season, with Phil Neville dismissed during the World Cup break. Former Leicester City and QPR boss Martí Cifuentes took over in July.
Rangers are ninth in the Scottish Premiership after a tumultuous opening to their season which has seen them yet to win in the opening two games of league play and drop into the Uefa Conference League after losing a Europa League qualifying tie to Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok. An anemic attack has seen McInnes push the club to sign reinforcements, including Japanese winger Daisuke Yokota. The former Girona winger Kim Min-su is expected to join the club this week.
Kelsy will travel to Glasgow this week to finalize the deal and undergo a medical and will join the team permanently when his visa is sorted. A source said on Wednesday that Kelsy is highly unlikely to feature for Rangers this weekend, when the club takes on eighth-place Aberdeen on Sunday. In other news, Nicolas Raskin has not travelled with Rangers for their Conference League playoff tie against Czechia side Jablonec due to a potential move away from the club in this transfer window.
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