GERRARD TREADING A DANGEROUS PATH?
With the heavy tasks in front of Steven Gerrard at Rangers, the new manager prefers to tap up young lads from his former clubs. OvieEjaria has joined the club on a loan deal but many more youngsters have been linked to the side in recent times.
It really is very easy for Gerrard to keep luring players from Liverpool considering he remains a legend there and worked with many of the youngsters whilst at the club’s academy.
The manager has been advised to rather go the route of Nikola Katic in getting players. The Croatia international was linked to the club at the same time as Kent but the defender has been announced as a new player for the forthcoming season.
Katic has first team games under his belt at SlavenBelupo, and with a £2 million price tag and a four year deal, Rangers could really profit in a few years if the player impresses. This was the way Celtic made real money from Virgil van Dijk and Victor Wanyama. This worked for the Gers as Carlos Cuellar gotten for less than £3 million earned the club more than double when he moved away for about £8 million.
With director of football Mark Allen and scouting expert John Brown advising Gerrard, many of such deals would make real impact at Ibrox, especially with limited budget.
Also, in the past and up till now, buying Premier League youngsters with potential have not been working well as much. CharlyMusonda from Chelsea flopped at Celtic. Phil Bradsley and Lee Martin from the Red Devils failed to hit their potential at Rangers, as well as Aaron Nemane from City last season. There are even clauses like minimum amount of games the youngsters must get to enable them leave their top clubs for Scottish sides.
Gerrard must look at this approach rather than getting mostly Liverpool youngsters to switch from Anfield to Govan.