According to a report from transfer guru Fabrizio Romano on Tuesday morning,

the club are ‘closing in’ on the appointment of the former Southampton head coach,

who appears to have beaten off competition from

ex-Real Madrid assistant manager Davide Ancelotti to be

named as the club’s 20th permanent manager in their history.

Out of work for the first time in his managerial career, Martin was sacked

as manager of Southampton in December after winning just one of the club’s opening

16 league games. Despite his struggles on the south coast though,

the Brighton-born boss still maintains a reputation as one of

the country’s most talented young coaches, leading him to be heavily linked to

the vacant role at Rangers ever since the departure of Belgian manager Philippe Clement in February.

Installed as the favourite to take the reins in Govan last week,

it was thought newly appointed sporting director

Kevin Thelwell and chairman Andrew Cavenagh had began to narrow

down their list of potential candidates for the role,

with Martin and Ancelotti the two main names in the frame,

while ex-Rangers manager Steven Gerrard had reportedly ruled himself out of the running.