Rangers hold transfer 'interest' in Championship ace recently stripped of captaincy after off field incident

Dion Sanderson is still of interest to Rangers, it has been claimed.

The centre-back was prominently linked with the Ibrox club last summer when Michael Beale was undergoing an extensive recruitment drive. Sanderson eventually joined Birmingham City after a loan at St Andrews from Wolves.

It is stated in the Daily Record that ‘Rangers have had one eye on Birmingham defender Dion Sanderson for some time.’ There is also suggestions that Sanderson ‘remains a person of interest where the Ibrox club is concerned’ although Clement could move on to other targets this summer.

A tough season has been endured by the defender and his teammates, as they look set for relegation to League One from the Championship, unless they can beat Norwich City on the final day of the season and hope Plymouth, Blackburn or Sheffield Wednesday lose to give them a fighting chance.

Birmingham City have also fined and stripped him of the captain’s armband after a drink-driving indiscretion. West Midlands Police reported the incident to the club last month and the Blues have punished Sanderson. The 24-year-old apologised to his teammates and then started a match against Rotherham, but John Ruddy is claimed to be keeping the armband for the rest of this season.

Interim boss Gary Rowett told Birmingham Live: “I have got to judge the players available and how they’ve trained all week. We spoke about the incident straight away, we spoke about the standards we have as a club regardless of the situation on the pitch, and we have tried to make the best decision possible.

“We didn’t feel like the actions should be representative of being the captain, at least short term, we felt there needed to be a disciplinary in terms of being fined. He was quite open about apologising to the rest of the players.

“He made a mistake. Young players can make a mistake, fortunately for him it wasn’t any worse than that. We move on and he will be judged on his form like everyone else.”