Rangers have yet to confirm or deny their interest in Preston North End’s Daniel Johnson and with the 27-year old entering the last year of his contract, they will be unlikely to pay over the odds for the talented midfielder.
The Light Blues are believed to have offered around £2million to The Lilywhites, however, their boss, Alex Neil is hoping to secure double that fee, considering that’s what Rangers paid for Ianis Hagi it would be highly unlikely for them to go to that figure for a player they could get for free in January.
If Ross Wilson and Steven Gerrard decide to move on there is one player currently kicking his heels waiting to be snapped up that could add depth to the Gers engine room.
Markus Henriksen is a 28-year old Norwegian international who recently played against Steven Davis in the 5-1 hammering of Northern Ireland and with 56 caps to his name is a proven operator at the highest level and is valued at £3.6m by transfermarkt.
After a fall-out with Hull City he started just four games in the Championship last season due to a summer transfer falling through, but he had been the club’s captain in 2018/19 and was still getting picked by his national team, a January loan move to Bristol City to get him off the wage bill was cut short for obvious reasons.
Who would you rather sign if you had the choice?
Henriksen
Johnson
Capable of playing as a defensive midfielder or further forward – where he played for Rosenborg and Alkmaar – Henriksen not only has good ability on the ball but can more than handle himself physically and at just under 6ft 2inches tall, the Scottish game wouldn’t present any problems on that account.
Even if we do go for Johnson, the big Norwegian would be well worth a punt given that he is a free agent, especially with Ryan Jack and Joe Aribo out for the foreseeable future, and with Wilson only willing to sanction moves for players that “fit the profile“, he could well offer the extra quality to Gerrard’s starting XI that the Gers gaffer craves.