RANGERS are poised to loan winger Michael O’Halloran to Hearts in this month’s transfer window.
Motherwell, Ross County and his former club St Johnstone have also expressed an interest in a short term deal for the 26-year-old attacker.
But the Ibrox side hope to recoup as much of O’Halloran’s wages as possible – and it’s understood the Edinburgh outfit would be willing to stump up more than £2,000-a-week to get a deal done.
Mark Warburton splashed out around £500,000 to land O’Halloran from the Perth Saints a year ago, but the player has failed to settle at the Govan men.
Saints boss Tommy Wright wants O’Halloran to return to Perth to kick-start his career and Ross County are monitoring the situation while Motherwell, who take on Warburton’s side this weekend in the Scottish Cup, have also spoken with Rangers about taking the attacker until the end of the season.
But Hearts appear to be in pole position as they have the financial power to fund the player’s wages.
A source close to the negotiations said: “It’s a bit of a surprise that Rangers would be willing to let Michael go to Hearts given the situation at the top end of the SPFL table.
“Hearts have not given up hope of overtaking Rangers between now and May.”
