According to The Daily Record, Glasgow Rangers target Jack Simpson has agreed a Bosman move to Steven Gerrard’s side, which could spell bad news for George Edmundson in regards to his future prospects.
What’s the word?
The Rangers centre-back has struggled for game time this season having fallen out of favour with Gerrard after he served a lengthy suspension for breaching coronavirus restrictions.
Gerrard is currently blessed with great defensive options again, with Leon Balogun and Filip Helander jostling for the position alongside Connor Goldson, so it’s no surprise that Edmundson finds himself at the bottom of the pecking order, as he has made just one substitute appearance in the Scottish Premiership so far this season, averaging a miserable 5.52 rating overall.
Following the news that Rangers have agreed a pre-contract deal with Simpson, it is within the realm of possibility that the 23-year-old could find himself heading for the Ibrox exit, considering the Gers also have Nikola Katic on their books, with Gerrard recently confirming that the Croatian is progressing nicely in his recovery from injury.
When one door opens, another closes
Rangers signed Edmundson from Oldham Athletic on a four-year deal for a fee in the region of £700,000 in 2019.
Since then, he has made 16 appearances for the 54-time Scottish champions, scoring twice and supplying an assist in all competitions.
Gerrard had insisted that Edmundson could still find a way back into the first team in the future, saying:
“I think the important thing here was to get the players out of the isolation period, first and foremost. Then it was about sitting down with the players face-to-face to gauge a reaction to how they feel and where they were at.
“I spoke to them both individually and they were both very sad over the incident, they were remorseful, apologetic and full of regret. They first and foremost wanted to apologise to the supporters and their team-mates for their actions.”In my position, it was time to support these two players once I saw that reaction. It was the reaction I wanted to see.”Now it’s about me giving them the support and managing them to come back to top players because they are good players, we need them here to help and support us moving forward.”
However, reports in recent weeks have revealed Rangers will consider a January loan exit for Edmundson as he hasn’t played despite returning from suspension.
Having excelled for Bournemouth, the Scottish giants have taken a gamble on Simpson and it’s fair to say that they could be duly rewarded. He is currently averaging more tackles and clearances per game than Edmundson, which suggests that he could be a significant upgrade on the Rangers outcast. He’s currently valued at £1m but Rangers are getting him for free.
If Edmundson can’t re-establish himself in the first team at all between now and the end of this season, then it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see him leave for pastures new in the near future.
AND in other news, Filip Helander proved a point to Steven Gerrard with his performance against Ross County…