Transfer gossip (Thursday, June 16): Town defender wanted man; Boro red tape battle; Barnsley in tug-of-war

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN defender Joel Lynch is continuing to be strongly linked with a move to Championship rivals QPR - desperate to land some defensive reinforcements ahead of the new season.

The 28-year-old has a year left to run on his deal, with reports from the capital suggesting that the R’s have tabled a fresh bid for the centre-half after seeing an initial bid rebuffed.

QPR chief Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink previously worked with Lynch when the Welsh international had a loan spell at Nottingham Forest.

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Rangers, who recently released Clint Hill and allowed Gabriele Angella to return to Watford following his loan spell at Loftus Road, have only two recognised centre-backs in Nedum Onuoha and Grant Hall.

Glasgow Rangers and Birmingham City are leading the chase to sign Sone Aluko, with the 27-year-old forward recently released by Hull City.

Middlesbrough have agreed a deal to bring back Gaston Ramirez to the Riverside Stadium - but now face a red tape wrangle to complete the switch.

Reports in Uruguay suggest that Boro and Ramirez, who counts Hull among his former clubs, have shaken hands on a return to Teesside after his agent unravelled a pre-contract deal he signed with Penerol.

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The fee and conditions sought by the Uruguayan club to release Ramirez had led to Boro pulling the plug on discussions last week - but Penerol subsequently back in touch with the Premier League newboys to try and reignite hopes of a deal.

But even if a deal is completed, Ramirez would need to apply for a fresh work permit to play in the UK, which could prove problematic with the player having not met international appearance criteria with Uruguay over the past two years.

Boro yesterday signed Colombian international defender Bernando Espinosa, who will join on July 1 after his deal ended at Sporting Gijon.

Barnsley are now battling it out with Peterborough United to sign Colchester midfielder George Moncur - after League One rivals Charlton Athletic look to have ended their interest.

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The Addicks had two bids rejected for the Colchester midfielder - an initial £150,000 and a £300,000 second bid, but are not set to follow up with a third offer.

The Reds and Posh have reportedly met Colchester’s asking price of £500,000

Scunthorpe United have signed Bradford City winger Josh Morris on a free transfer on a three-year deal.

The 24-year-old joined the Bantams on a three-year deal last summer after being released by Blackburn and scored once in 16 appearances.

He previously played under Iron chief Graham Alexander when the duo were at Fleetwood.