If according to the report that surfaced at the weekend and Rangers are interested in signing Jesse Lingard, they may face an uphill battle after a story suggesting that he may be heading to La Liga appeared on Sky Sports.
The Manchester United and 24-cap England man has struggled to see any action this season and if he has any hopes of making the European Championships next summer he will need to be playing more regularly and making a similar impact to the one he made in 2018.
Lingard’s contract expires at the end of this season, however, his club has the option of extending it for another year, how keen the player would be for this when he has barely kicked a ball is another story.
On paper, the 27-year old could be a decent loan acquisition, his £100,000 per week salary would likely make a permanent deal a non-starter from the offset but he would be able to play in both midfield and the front three, similar to the way that Joe Aribo or Scott Arfield currently do in contrasting styles.
We haven’t won anything yet and despite the hugely impressive start to the season, there is little chance of Ross Wilson and Steven Gerrard resting on their laurels, succession planning should be a lot easier than completing an overhaul of the squad on a budget though.
Even if we don’t sign Lingard, it is at least a sign of the times that we are being linked with players of his stature, it wasn’t so long ago that we were eyeing up players in the Scottish Championship with many thinking that they could do a job for us.