Rangers have made a stunning last-gasp approach to English Championship club Aston Villa to sign former forward Ross McCormack, according to a report.
The Daily Mail have claimed via their live transfer blog (Thursday, 10.57am) that the Gers have “asked” about the 31-year-old former youth star, who has not yet agreed a departure from Villa Park.
The Glasgow-born forward has had a year of struggle since moving to Villa for £12million from Fulham last summer.
He spent the second half of the last campaign on loan at Nottingham Forest, where he bagged just once in seven outings, while he has played in just one EFL Cup tie for Steve Bruce’s side this season.
Now, as Rangers potentially line up a move for McCormack, here, This Is Futbol is weighing up whether it would be a good move for the Ibrox giants and if it is likely to happen.
Good move for Rangers?
Definitely. McCormack has struggled with the demand of playing for Aston Villa in the Championship, but a return to Scotland and especially with Rangers could be the move needed to help him regain his past form which had previously seen him light up the English second tier. Just last year McCormack was valued as highly as £12million and if Rangers can help the 13-time capped Scotland international regain his 2015-16 form, which saw bag 23 goals in 49 appearances in all competitions alongside turning provider on 11 occasions then he could be the man to help the Gers close the gap on fierce rivals Celtic at the top of the table.
This Is Futbol rating: 10/10.
Likely to happen?
Right now it looks like only an approach has been made by Rangers and there could be a number of issues that have meant the Gers turned right around after their enquiry. Finances would presumably be the biggest obstacle with McCormack surely on a higher wage than most if not all of the Gers squad after his big-money move last summer. At this stage of his career a move back to Glasgow may look enticing for the experienced Scotsman after previously departing Rangers for Motherwell 11 years a go, but he surely won’t take a massive wage cut either with his Villa deal still set to stand until 2020. If it is to be a loan deal also then the Midlands giants will surely favour him going to a fellow English club, who can pay a higher percentage than what Rangers would be able to.
This Is Futbol rating: 3/10.