Jon McLaughlin is settling in nicely into his new role as Rangers number one, albeit in name rather than squad number, with the Scotland international impressing recently in the league and against PSV Eindhoven.
There is though, with 40-year old Allan McGregor on the bench and Robby McCrorie with just one year on his current deal left, a lot of uncertainty about the future of the goalkeeping department.
As well as England internationals Sam Johnstone, Jack Butland and Ben Foster, another name that was mentioned was Turkey Under-21 international Berke Ozer who is now a free agent, En Son Haber reporting that we had even offered a contract:
“It was claimed that the 22-year-old net keeper, whom Benfica was interested in, agreed with Anderlecht. However, a new claim came from Scotland. Accordingly, Glasgow Rangers, who played in the Europa League final, took action and made an offer for Berke.
“It was noted that the young goalkeeper, 40-year-old McGregor, took the gloves and was warm to this offer because of the possibility of wearing the uniform at 11 regularly.”
Although the translation isn’t the best, it would appear that the prospect of regular first-team football is attractive to Ozer who found game time limited at Fenerbahce.
Speaking to Spor Arena, Ozer hopes to get a deal concluded soon:
“We have a lot of priority. We made such a decision, we waited this long as a result of this decision, the right thing has to happen. Of course, not the league, but we have a priority of the project.
“This is the issue we give priority to in the teams we talked to, it is a project, it is an investment in the future. If we took a decision, we had to take such a step as a result. We are talking with all the teams we are in contact with, within this framework. We are talking about the project, the opportunity to play, the career opportunity. I hope it will be concluded as soon as possible.”
In terms of style, Ozer is more known for his shot stopping ability, as previously reported by Vital Rangers, and we will certainly need cover at some point in the very near future, however, if McLaughlin continues his current form, he wouldn’t see much action for Rangers either.