Portsmouth are keen to sign Rangers midfielder Ross McCrorie in a permanent deal following his season on loan at Fratton Park, according to the Scottish Mail on Sunday (March 29, page 120).
McCrorie headed down to the south coast last summer and has since made 22 appearances in all competitions, but is currently self-isolating after becoming the fifth Pompey player to test positive for coronavirus.
Blues boss Kenny Jackett had begun to favour the 22-year-old again shortly before the outbreak led to the postponement of the season, with McCrorie earning five outings in Portsmouth’s last six league games and continuing his run of appearances at right-back.
The Gers product had been forced to watch the action from the bench in the first four League One fixtures that followed his recovery from a second hamstring tear in six weeks, which saw him join Steven Gerrard’s squad for warm weather training in Dubai as part of his rehabilitation in January.
Portsmouth enjoy a good relationship with Rangers as Jackett has maintained a regular line of communication with the Glasgow giants’ Loan Manager Billy Kirkwood throughout McCrorie’s loan spell, and could now look to utilise that in talks over a permanent transfer.
It was speculated in the Sunday papers that Pompey hope to keep McCrorie at Fratton Park beyond the 2019/20 season and plan to forge a permanent transfer.
The League One outfit could use the pause in play to begin talks with Rangers to discuss a fee for the £900,000-rated talent, but may face opposition from Gerrard who has lauded the midfielder as a future Rangers captain in the past.
Gerrard said at the start of 2019 that he believes McCrorie can go on and achieve big things at Ibrox, having been impressed by the midfielder’s attitude and efforts following his appearance in the previous month’s 1-0 win over Celtic.
“He has worked extremely hard on the training pitch and he is growing and he is getting better,” the Gers boss told the club’s official website. “I think he has an incredible future here.
“I think he is a potential future captain of the club and he won’t be going anywhere else but Rangers.”
Of course, McCrorie went on to join Pompey, where he has been lauded by Jackett for his athleticism and ability to displace summer buy Nathan Thompson at right-back.
“Ross was caught out once or twice in the first half, but in the second half was a lot better, particularly when there were crosses in from our left-hand side,” Jackett told The News following Pompey’s 1-0 win over Lincoln in October. “He defended his far post better and got his bearings.
“There was one glimpse of what he can do athletically when he burst out in the second half, and didn’t keep going, he played it square to John [Marquis]. I do think there’s an athlete there that can bring the ball out from the back.
“My thinking is that athleticism is something we’ve needed down that right-hand side.”
McCrorie has since made several further outings at right-back, from where he has recorded two of his three assists for the League One campaign.
The Dailly-born 22-year-old has also averaged 39.9 touches, 1.0 tackles, 1.2 clearances, 1.6 successful dribbles, 5.4 total duels won and 15.0 accurate passes per third-tier fixture across all of his outings thus far this term, according to Sofa Score statistics.
Not unless you give us your best 3 players and £11.77million