Sunderland have reportedly pulled out of the race to sign Rangers‘ young midfielder Greg Docherty. The 21-year-old is one of the upcoming midfield talents of Scotland and there were strong rumours earlier that the player will move to Sunderland as Steven Gerrard will find it tough to accommodate him in the first eleven given the number of good signings he has made in the transfer market.
Sunderland’s new manager Jack Ross was asked about Docherty’s loan move and he replied straight away that they are not going after him. He added further,”That’s not to say he’s not a good player, but we have other priorities at the moment positionally. We have a squad with no out-and-out strikers. I seem to get linked with every single player up in Scotland. Some of them are true but a lot of them aren’t true. I’ve got used to it. At first, it bothered me a wee bit. It’s always a market I’ll look at because I know the players and there are good players up here.”
However, Gerrard will find it tough to give him game time as he signed the likes of Ovie Ejaria and Scott Arfield who can play in the central midfield role. The Gers signed Docherty in January on a four-year contract and he also happens to be a boyhood Rangers fan.
The 21-year-old has represented Scotland at various youth levels and is expected to be a future regular for the national side. Under Graeme Murty, he made 14 appearances for the Gers and showed a good amount of promise. However, he will struggle to get a significant amount of game time as Gerrard will try to push the side to stop Celtic‘s domination in Scottish football.
The fact that he is a central midfielder playing for Rangers can be a good thing for the 21-year-old as he can learn the trick of the trade in midfield from one of the best midfielders of his generation. Gerrard will be a perfect mentor for him and he has the ability to elevate Docherty’s game a notch higher.
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Docherty has a decent passing range and is a creative threat whenever he is on the ball. He is technically good on the ball, though he still needs to go a long way before he can establish himself in the Teddy Bears squad. With a loan move to the Stadium of Light out of the equation, the player will hope that he can get some game time at the Ibrox Stadium in the near future.
