Rangers have spent the summer aggressively raiding Hearts, creating significant disruption for one of their main Scottish Premiership title rivals ahead of the new campaign.
The Ibrox club have already snapped up Lawrence Shankland, who scored 16 goals last season, and then poached manager Derek McInnes from the Edinburgh club before landing Cammy Devlin on a free transfer.
Three key figures from Hearts’ title challenge last season will now be operating at Ibrox, as Rangers look to end a two-year wait for silverware under their new manager.
The nightmare may not be finished for Hearts supporters either, with Rangers reported to be rivalling Ipswich Town for the signature of Portuguese attacker Claudio Braga.
Braga enjoyed an impressive 2025/26 Premiership season, contributing 14 goals and three assists across 38 league appearances for Hearts, making him one of the division’s standout attacking talents.
The 26-year-old already has a proven working relationship with Shankland under McInnes, suggesting the pair could hit the ground running together at Ibrox from the very start.
Youssef Chermiti scored 15 league goals for Rangers last season but is attracting serious interest from Ligue 1 club Lyon, who have already seen a £15 million offer rejected for the Portugal Under-21 international.
Should Chermiti depart before the transfer window closes, Braga would represent a natural and highly effective replacement, capable of covering both the centre-forward and attacking midfield positions.
That versatility, however, is precisely what could spell the end for Thelo Aasgaard, who joined Rangers from Luton Town for £3.5 million last summer and has struggled for consistency in his debut Ibrox season.
Aasgaard started just 21 of his 33 Premiership appearances, and five of his 11 goal contributions came in the final eight league matches, suggesting he only found form once the pressure of the title race had effectively lifted.
A return of six goals and assists across the first 25 league games was far below the standard expected of a £3.5 million signing, and his difficult campaign was further compounded by a red card against Celtic in the League Cup semi-final during Danny Rohl’s reign.
The statistics underline just how much more effective Braga was than Aasgaard in the Premiership last season, with the Hearts man producing nine more combined goals and big chances created than his potential new teammate.
Aasgaard recorded 1.2 shots per game compared to Braga’s 2.2, and the Portuguese attacker created seven big chances to the Norwegian’s five, painting a clear picture of the quality gap between the two players.
Signing Braga would push Aasgaard even further down the pecking order at Ibrox, given that both players compete for the same positions in a 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2 system that McInnes favoured during his time at Tynecastle.
Football Insider reported earlier this month that Serie A side Atalanta are monitoring Aasgaard as a potential transfer target, which could give Rangers a timely opportunity to recoup funds on the 24-year-old after just one season in Glasgow.
Rangers should look to move Aasgaard on if a deal for Braga can be agreed, though retaining him may make sense if the club fails to add further attacking options before the window shuts.