Kevin van Veen insists Rangers are still interested in signing him...along with most of the Premiership.

The former Motherwell striker has been told he can leave Groningen after a disappointing return to his Dutch homeland, but the second tier club want a permanent transfer for their player, who they paid the Fir Park club £500,000 and not a loan.

The 32-year-old was previously linked with a move to Rangers, both last summer and in this transfer window, but Philippe Clement moved to bring Wolves ace Fabio Silva to Ibrox on loan.

However, in an interview in the Netherlands, van Veen was directly asked about Rangers.

He said: "Even though I rejected them in the summer, there is still interest.

"But there are more clubs that find a striker who scored 29 goals last season interesting. I can contact clubs in the entire Scottish League directly, but they all want to loan me while FC Groningen prefers to sell.

"It is difficult for many Scottish clubs to come close to what FC Groningen paid for me in terms of a transfer fee and that is a problem.

"I thought very carefully about my move and the consequences last summer.

"I don't want to be a failure. In Scotland I'm still a hero, I can't even go shopping normally.

"I also want to show Groningen who I am. If that is ultimately not possible, life goes on.

"If an opportunity comes along that is good for the club and for myself, we have to act.

"But we are still a long way from that.”