OPINION
Rangers’ summer recruitment plan has already begun to develop at pace, but manager Steven Gerrard is ensuring he remains patient as well.
In the case of Heart of Midlothian defender John Souttar, he is prepared to wait for far longer than expected. Football Insider reported on Tuesday that Gerrard is ready to bide his time before making a move for the Scotland international.
Gers have made that decision because they have been told that Souttar is unlikely to make a move earlier in the transfer window. However, that policy doesn’t come without risks, after TEAMtalk reported last month that Derby County are preparing to rival the Glasgow giants for the £5million talent.
Obviously if the player has decided to wait until later in the window then there’s not that much that you can do, but Gerrard risks ending up with nothing here.
It’s certainly a huge gamble for him to take. Derby will need to rebuild a squad packed with loan stars ready for another Premier League push next season, so they will likely provide significant competition for Souttar.
The 22-year-old is exactly the sort of player that this Rangers side need, as well. He’s proven at Scottish Premiership level with both Dundee United and Hearts, while he’s still young enough to go on and improve in the years to come.
Souttar is the sort of player you’d love to see at Ibrox, and would hate to see strutting his stuff at Parkhead. Those are the types of stars Gers need to be signing, so it’s a big risk to play the waiting game with him.
If it all comes off smoothly then happy days but, equally, Rangers could end up empty-handed. Let’s wait and see how this one plays out.