Rangers won’t be letting Umar Sadiq head back to Roma early despite a slow start to his loan spell at Ibrox, according to manager Steven Gerrard.
Speculation has been rife about Sadiq’s short-term future after the Rangers boss called for him to improve if he is going to be selected for the first-team in the weeks and months to come.
Gerrard though has poured cold water on the prospect of his loan deal being cancelled early, admitting that his recent harsh criticism of the Nigerian was designed to get a reaction out of him.
As quoted by The Sunday Post, the Ibrox manager said of a potential January exit:
It’s not something that we’ve thought about, and it’s not something we’d try and do.
What we want is the real, aggressive Sadiq. That’s we’ve paid for, that’s what we’ve asked for, that’s what we’ve got in.
This is me trying a different way to get it out of him because I’ve tried other ways.
The 21-year-old has made just three appearances for the club since joining from Roma in the summer, all of which have come from the substitute’s bench.
With both Alfredo Morelos and Kyle Lafferty unavailable for this month’s League Cup semi-final against Aberdeen, it opens up a space for Sadiq to fill and hopefully Gerrard’s method of public motivation works.
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