Rangers boss Steven Gerrard is ‘weighing up’ an approach to Nathaniel Clyne to sound out the Liverpool fullback’s interest in a move to Ibrox, according to Football Insider.
Clyne is set to leave Anfield this summer as part of a vast overhaul on Merseyside by Reds boss Jurgen Klopp, who is not planning on offering the 14-cap England defender a new contract to replace his current £70,000-per-week terms which expire on June 30.
Klopp is yet to include the 28-year-old in any of his matchday squads during the 2019/20 term as a result of the unrelenting displays produced by Trent Alexander-Arnold, while Clyne also sustained a cruciate ligament injury during the Premier League side’s pre-season tour that sidelined him for six months.
The blow has seen Clyne very much become a forgotten man at Anfield, with the £10million-rated Crystal Palace product managing just 282 minutes of top-flight football with Liverpool since May 2017, having sat out much of the 17/18 campaign with a back injury.
His days on Merseyside now appear numbered, and Gerrard may look to offer Clyne a chance to salvage the final years of his career in Scotland with it expected that the defender will accept a pay cut with whoever he joins next.
Gerrard is said to be mulling over reinforcements at right-back as doubt lingers over the Ibrox futures of skipper James Tavernier, ex-Liverpool man Jon Flanagan and Milwaukee, Wisconsin-born Matt Polster.
Flanagan would be the most at-risk if Gerrard were to offer Clyne a move to Scotland, as the one-time England international is likewise out of contract this summer.
Tavernier’s ‘fall from grace’ is touted as the reason why he may be sold, while Polster could be let go having started just three Premiership games all season.
Taking a punt on Clyne would be a big risk by Gerrard given he has not played a second of first-team football this term, while a loan spell with AFC Bournemouth for the second half of the 2018/19 season also left much to the imagination.
Would you welcome Clyne on a free transfer?
Yes
No
Clyne managed to start 13 of his 14 Premier League outings with the Cherries, but only averaged 2.6 successful tackles from 3.5 attempts per 90 minutes over those appearances, according to WhoScored data, plus 1.3 interceptions, 2.1 clearances, 0.3 successful dribbles from 0.7 attempts, 0.3 key balls, 0.3 accurate crosses, and lost possession 0.6 times through unsuccessful touches.
Gerrard may need a new right-back this summer, but would Clyne really be worth the risk?
In other Rangers news, an English side is plotting a summer raid on Ibrox for a player Steven Gerrard tipped as a ‘future’ Gers captain.