Barry Ferguson has said that Steven Gerrard won’t do better business than signing Southampton midfielder Steven Davis this summer.
Davis joined Rangers on loan in January until the end of the season and has now made 15 appearances.
Writing in his column in the Daily Record, Ferguson claimed that Davis and Defoe had “given Gerrard his blueprint for next season”.
Davis struggled for game-time when he first arrived and Ferguson said that it would have been a risk for Gerrard to thrown him in straight away.
“Now, though,” Ferguson wrote, “you are seeing Davo running games of football from the middle of the park. He adds genuine quality and control to the engine room of the team and, as a midfield player myself, I firmly believe that’s where games are won and lost.
“Gerrard will be a busy man throughout the transfer market this summer but he’ll struggle to do a better of business than sitting Davo down right now and getting him tied up.”
OPINION
Davis hit some criticism from Rangers fans when he first arrived but he’s settled in now, and both him and Defoe look like the players who can push Gerrard towards silverware next season. Defoe is on an 18-month loan but Davis’ loan runs out at the end of the season. Davis is 34 but obviously has what it takes to play in the Premiership. Wages might be the only issue. He’s on £60k-a-week at Southampton but his contract there is up in the summer and he’ll be available to sign without a fee. That should give Rangers some wriggle room and Davis will know that he’s unlikely to get any offers to stay in the Premier League. If Gerrard makes it clear that he’s going to be a central part of the Rangers side next season, we think he will sign and stay at Ibrox. We also believe that Ferguson is right when he claims that Defoe and Davis are the two players to turn Rangers’ fortunes around.