BBC NEWS:West Ham and Rangers Submit Seven-Figure Bids to Sign ‘Special’ Star

West Ham United and Rangers are going toe-to-toe in their bid to sign Sheffield Wednesday stopper Pierce Charles, with reports suggesting that the Ibrox side have joined the Hammers in making a £1million-plus bid for the goalkeeper – though any imminent move is off, given Wednesday have not responded to any offers for their ‘special‘ young stopper.

Rangers in particular have had an extremely busy summer, signing a plethora of players from the English leagues, including Bournemouth duo Max Aarons and Joe Rothwell, as well as Tottenham Hotspur prodigy Mikey Moore – and manager Russell Martin, who managed Pierce’s brother Shea at Southampton, is keen on adding him to their squad.

1. Report: West Ham, Rangers Make Seven-Figure Move for Pierce CharlesThe Hammers have added five players to their ranks in the form of Callum Wilson, Kyle Walker-Peters, El Hadji Malick Diouf, Jean-Clair Todibo and Mads Hermansen, the latter being a goalkeeper – but they could look to plan for the long-term with the signing of the Northern Ireland international.With that in mind, the report by The Telegraph reporter Mike McGrath states that both West Ham and Rangers have made bids for goalkeeper Charles, worth £1million with the fee upfront for the youngster – with West Ham also looking to the Championship as they aim to land Mateus Fernandes from Southampton.

   Any deal is now off, as the duo haven’t had a response from the beleaguered second-tier club – but Wednesday picking up a fee for the talented young stopper could go a long way to sourcing a vital income for the Owls’ unpaid wages, with staff being paid late over the past couple of months.

   Reports earlier in the week stated that Wednesday would ask for £8million for their young stopper, which would be Rangers’ highest-paid fee this side of the 21st century, and their bid falls well below that – and so a deal is off at the moment.

   Rangers have dealt with Wednesday already this window, signing Djeidi Gassama a month ago, and he’s scored four goals in four games in Europe so far as the Gers head to a Champions League play-off round clash with Belgian outfit Club Brugge over the next couple of weeks – so they have had success in that regard. West Ham, meanwhile, would see him as a long-term option for Hermansen to compete for minutes under Graham Potter in the coming years.