Brighton reject £7.5m bid from Rangers for Cozier-Duberry

Brighton signed Cozier-Duberry from Arsenal's academy [Getty Images] Brighton have rejected a £7.5m bid from Scottish Premiership side Rangers for winger Amario Cozier-Duberry. The 21-year-old enjoyed a successful season on loan at Bolton last season as they won the League One play-offs, scoring eight goals and providing 12 assists in 34 appearances and earning a place in the League One team of the season. Cozier-Duberry, who has less than two years remaining on his contract at Amex Stadium, has featured heavily in pre-season under Fabian Hurzeler at Brighton but was an unused substitute for the 1-0 win at home to Bologna on Saturday. He continues to have interest from Championship clubs over a potential loan move, while Rangers are among a number of teams believed to be interested in signing him permanently. The offer would have been Rangers' second-highest transfer fee in more than 20 years. The Glasgow club paid £8m for forward Youssef Chermiti last summer, while Michael Ball and Tore Andre Flo were signed for larger fees in the early 2000s. Rangers ended a four-game winless run at the start of the season with a 5-1 victory over St Mirren in the Scottish Cup on Sunday but they are out of the Europa League having lost to Polish club Jagiellonia Białystok and have dropped into the Conference League play-offs. After the defeat over two legs new manager Derek McInnes, who joined from Hearts in the summer, admitted his squad needed "help", with the club said to be targeting full-backs and forwards. He added: "Strengthening defensively, strengthening in wide areas was a priority. But obviously losing a player of Youssef's ability [to an ACL injury], we need to look at that one as well." Visit our Rangers page for all the latest news, analysis and fan views Get Rangers news notifications in the BBC Sport app