Are Rangers realistic contenders to sign Heerenveen star Joey Veerman?
The Ibrox club have been linked with the Durchman in recent weeks, as well as a trail of other sides from around Europe.
If Veerman lands in Glasgow, it would signal a serious declaration of intent ahead of a Champions League push.
PSV boss Roger Schmidt also spoke recently, praising the player, but casting doubt on his club’s ability to fork out the asking price that Heerenveen are looking for, as well as a nod to the relative domestic dominance of Ajax:
“Veerman is a very good player, especially with the ball. He always has good attacking ideas, makes good decisions under pressure and always looks ahead. He has great vision.”
“He is very good at providing for the wingers and the strikers. So Veerman is a great player, I am not going to deny it and we are always looking at improving the team.”
“‘I’ve only been here for a year now, but I already know that it is not easy for PSV to buy players from other Dutch clubs. They are always very expensive. I don’t know if we can just get top players from the Eredivisie, ” as told to Dutch site Voetbal International.
Pivotal
Up to now, there has been no denial from the Rangers camp toward Veerman, specifically.
At a recent press conference, Steven Gerrard would not be drawn on names of targets when he was mentioned:
“There were couple of names a week before and a week before that. If there’s anything to say in terms of ins and outs, I will be the first to tell you.”
“We are tracking certain individuals to try and make the group stronger when the window opens. I don’t think it’s the right time to mention individual names or targets that we’re looking at.”
£8.5 million is the ballpark that has been mentioned in relation to Joey Veerman.
With a pivotal Summer of player trading ahead, any substantial new signings will need to be offset by a couple of player sales.
The massive cash injection that is the Champions League is now directly in reach, but it would appear that a pragmatic approach will be taken to get the squad ready for the qualifiers, as well as balancing up on any players heading for the exit door, if suitable bids are received.
With the likes of PSV, Atalanta, Reims and an unnamed Premier League club said to be in the running for the exciting 22-year old, this race will be a very interesting one with Rangers said to be in mix.