Rangers are set to miss out on signing Bournemouth defender Jack Simpson after Eddie Howe revealed he can’t afford to let him go.
The Daily Mail claimed earlier this month that the Premier League club had agreed to let the 21-year-old join the Glasgow giants on loan for the season.
But manager Howe has dashed the hopes of Rangers boss Steven Gerrard adding to the 11 signings he has already made this summer with the capture of Simpson.
Howe admitted he needs the defender following a raft of departures and injury concerns.
“Let’s wait and see on that,” the Bournemouth boss said, as quoted by the Daily Record. “I would doubt it. We have a streamlined squad, we don’t have big numbers and don’t have great strength in depth beyond the 20 players that I have available at the moment so I would be reluctant to lose anybody else.”
that the 21-year-old has a deal agreed to move to Rangers, but Bournemouth were waiting on the fitness of first-team star Nathan Ake.
He picked up an injury in a pre-season game but according to injury specialist Ben Dinnery, he is already back in contention for the first Premier League game of the season against Cardiff after overcoming his toe injury.
OPINION
With Nathan Ake, Simon Cook and Tyrone Mings ahead of him in the centre-back pecking order at Bournemouth, Simpson is unlikely to get too much game time in the foreseeable future on the south coast. Ake returned from injury to partner Cook in the team’s 2-0 Premier League opener against Cardiff, with Mings the back-up centre-back on the bench. Nevertheless, most Premier League managers usually want four senior centre-backs, and that makes it difficult for Rangers to push this deal over the line. Gerrard has already signed two central defenders this summer in Connor Goldson and Nikola Katic, and both have made an immediate impact with performances that have immediately made supporters forget about 2017-18 regulars David Bates, Bruno Alves, Russell Martin and Fabio Cardoso. But Gerrard clearly wants quality cover, especially with Ross McCrorie preferred in a midfield anchorman role, and he will be frustrated if Bournemouth maintain their stance on Simpson.