OPINION
Rangers should consider a move League One hotshot Billy Bodin as four Championship clubs reportedly continue to track the Bristol Rovers attacker.
The Daily Mail claimed on their transfer news blog (Tuesday, 1.39pm) that Hull, Preston, Fulham and Cardiff are all interesting in signing the 25-year-old striker who has begun the 2017-18 season in electric form.
Bodin has found the back of the net five times in just six league and cup encounters for League One outfit Rovers, including a brace in the 4-1 win over Cambridge United in the EFL Cup.
It is said that Rovers would be willing to accept an offer for the ex-Torquay United and Swindon Town forward for a nominal fee of just £250,000, a figure well within Rangers’ transfer budget.
Bodin is now in the final year of his contract at Rovers, with Darrell Clarke’s side yet to extend his contract after he scored 13 goals and laid on seven assists last season.
A 19-time Wales Under-21 international, Bodin can play anywhere in the final third and would offer the Gers both quality and versatility in the final third.
Rangers currently have Eduardo Herrera and Alfredo Morelos as options up front, but if one becomes unavailable, manager Pedro Caixinha will be light in the final third with Joe Dodoo’s future up in the air.
Able to play out wide too, Bodin would offer support for the likes of Daniel Candeias, Dalcio and Aaron Nemane.
Midfielder Josh Windass has proven to be a hit at Ibrox despite an injury-blighted season last time around, after signing from the lower depths of English football. He joined the Gers from League Two side Accrington Stanley.
Adding Bodin into the mix alongside Herrera and Morelos would give the Gers a different kind of striker in the final third, with Rovers’ number 10 able to score as well as create goals which he showed last season.
He could be the secret weapon needed in Glasgow to help catch Old Firm rivals Celtic, and at a knockdown price, Caixinha must chance his arm against the Championship quartet by luring him to Auchenhowie before Thursday’s deadline.