Wolves battling West Brom for Rangers ace who has decided to leave with his teammate

Wolves and Black Country rivals West Brom are both keen on signing a Rangers player who is set to leave Ibrox this summer, according to reports.

Wolves preparing for life in the Championship

The rebuild starts now.

Wolves ended an eight-year stay in the Premier League when their relegation was confirmed on April 20, the damage done long before the season’s end following one of the most wretched top-flight campaigns in the club’s history.

They lost their first five league games and never managed to climb out of the bottom three, before Rob Edwards steadied the ship sufficiently to avoid an embarrassing points record, though not the drop itself.

The task facing Edwards this summer is considerable.

The overhaul of personnel is expected to be vast, with a squad that was assembled at great cost over recent windows having badly underperformed.

Fosun’s ownership has come under scrutiny, with the club having spent in excess of £150 million on transfer fees across two windows in 2025 for little return, and the emphasis now must shift back to shrewd, experienced recruitment capable of navigating the Championship.

The January arrival of Adam Armstrong, a striker with over a century of Football League goals to his name, was seen as a signal of that intent — a player brought in knowing he might need to lead the club back up from the second tier.

There are difficult decisions to be made on multiple fronts.

Edwards has spoken candidly about how clubs “live and die” by their recruitment, acknowledging that mistakes have been made at Wolves over a number of years. He will not be given the same latitude again.

The urgency of mounting a promotion challenge in the first season back is not lost on anyone at Molineux.

Parachute payments make an immediate return to the Premier League financially vital, and the cautionary tales of West Brom and Leicester serve as a reminder of how easily clubs can get stuck in the second tier.

Wolves battle West Brom for exit-bound Rangers ace Leon King

It is against that backdrop that Edwards is casting his recruitment net, and one name to have emerged from TEAMtalk’s Graeme Bailey is Leon King of Rangers.

The 22-year-old central defender is set to leave Ibrox this summer when his contract expires and, because he is still under 23 and moving cross-border, would only command minimum compensation — making him an attractive low-cost option for clubs working within Championship budgets.

King has spent this season on loan at Ayr United in the Scottish Championship and turned in a campaign of such consistent excellence that he swept the club’s end-of-season awards — claiming Ayr’s Player of the Year, Fans’ Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year accolades.

His versatility, capable of operating as a central defender or in midfield, has only added to his appeal.

Wolves are among six English clubs now pursuing a deal, but it is the Black Country element of the race that adds a particular dimension.

West Brom — Wolves’ fierce local rivals — are also understood to be firmly in the running for King’s signature, setting up the prospect of a derby-tinged transfer battle for one of Scottish football’s most coveted young talents.

King will not be leaving alone.

TEAMtalk also report that his close friend and fellow Ibrox academy graduate Bailey Rice, 19, is set to depart Rangers at the same time.

The teenager has attracted interest from Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, with all three clubs understood to be pushing hard for his signature.

For Rangers, the simultaneous exits of two of their most promising young homegrown players is a blow that will intensify scrutiny of the club’s youth development pathway.

For Wolves, landing King would be a smart first step in what promises to be a summer of significant change at Molineux.