Rangers and Old Firm rivals, Celtic, are both reported to be in the early stages of offering Stoke City forward, Tyrese Campbell a contract as interest hots up in the England under-20 striker according to The Daily Record.
Campbell signed from Manchester City for £1.75m in 2016 but has been unable to command a regular place in the starting XI, at just 20-years-old he still has plenty time on his hands but is using the expiration of his contract to increase his options of getting more regular game time.
Both sides of the Old Firm are in the market for a new striker and for similar reasons, Alfredo Morelos and Odsonne Edouard are unlikely to start next season with either club given their form over the last few seasons, Jermain Defoe is 37-years-old and won’t be around forever whilst Celtic continue to have issues with both Leigh Griffiths and Vakoun Issouf Bayo.
Campbell has scored 4 goals in 16 appearances this season and despite is age has a decent physical presence being over 6ft tall with an athletic build, he also comes from good stock with his Dad being former Arsenal and Everton striker Kevin Campbell, not a bad shoulder to lean on for advice.
The report in The Daily Record claims that Campbell will be available for a cut price £400k because of the cross border regulations for under 23 players which would allow Rangers to offer significantly higher wages than they would normally and compete with the English clubs that are interested – named in the article as Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Wolves.
The Ibrox club are also linked with Lyle Taylor at Charlton Athletic who is in a similar situation but because he is 29-years-old there wouldn’t be any fee at all unless they wanted to secure an early release from his contract.
Unlike Taylor, Campbell would have a significant sell on value were he to do well at the Light Blues and like current Ger, Joe Aribo, who has made an instant impact and his international debut since he arrived from Charlton, if he were to sign he would instantly be worth more than they paid for him.
Who would you sign between the two transfer "targets"?
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Despite Potters manager, Michael O’Neill, playing him in the last four games and the youngster netting three goals, Rangers fans will be hoping that Steven Gerrard can work his magic once again and charm a talented youngster into making the move north.