Leicester City dealt transfer blow as Rangers 'steal march' on Scottish wonderkid

Leicester City have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of Scottish wonderkid Cameron Cooper.

The Scotland under-17 international has been on trial with Rangers, Sheffield United and Leicester City with all three clubs keen on signing the striker. But it is Rangers who have "stolen a march" on the Partick Thistle youngster, according to the Scottish Sun, with the Ibrox side keen to replace Aston Villa-bound Rory Wilson.

Such is Rangers' interest in Cooper, they have apparently offered two of their young players in part exchange. Cooper, 16, was invited to trial at the City training ground in October last year and scored in a trial game, catching the eye of coaches. The club have been tracking his progress since.

LeicestershireLive understands that his Scotland under-17s teammate Callan McKenna, a goalkeeper for Queens Park, has also been on trial with City recently.

If City were to win the race for Cooper, he would count Kolo Toure's son Yassine among his team-mates in the under-18s next season. Fellow striker Chris Popov and exciting midfielder Will Alves will also be part of that squad next season, though are expected to play most of their football with the under-23s.