According to the latest reports in Daily Record, Rangers are closing in on a loan deal for Nottingham Forest centre-half Joe Worrall. Since Aitor Karanka arrived in January at the English club, Worrall has struggled for game time and the Spanish manager has even added the likes of Michael Dawson, Michael Hefele and Tobias Figueiredo in the transfer window. As a result, the England u-21 international is yet to make an appearance in the Championship this season.
Steven Gerrard was recently asked about the possibility of signing the English defender to which he said,”I’ve never been keen to talk about other club’s players – it’s disrespectful. I’ve been open as I can with the media in terms of the areas we’re trying to strengthen. I won’t be mentioning any names. Worrall is a fantastic player – I’ve been following him for many years with England. He’s a really good player but I don’t think I have to add to that any more. But yes we are looking for a centre-back.”
Gerrard might be downplaying the move but it is clear that the Gers are after him as they look to provide backup for Connor Goldson and Nikola Katic. The duo has done extremely well so far but an injury to either of the two can derail their campaign as the Teddy Bears don’t have enough depth in the centre back position.
Last season, Worrall made 35 appearances in all competitions and was quite an important player until the arrival of the new manager. Karanka is willing to part ways with him as he was recently quoted as saying,”Joe if he does not play regular football here, will not play for the England Under-21 side. So he needs to be playing regular football. He needs to gain experience because he does have the ability to play for Forest in the future. The club knows that the player needs to play and if the player wants to leave and we can find a solution that is good for him, that is good. If he does prefer to stay here, he needs to understand – and I have told him this – that it will be difficult for him to play right now. It is his decision.”
What can he add to the Light Blues squad?
Gerrard and Co have been after a centre back for quite a while now and their search is likely to come to an end in the form of this young Nottingham Forest defender. He stands close to 6ft 4inches and as expected, he is good in the air. He captained England at Toulon Tournament where the Three Lions came out victorious and is seen as a leader at the back. That is one of the key aspects of this current Gerrard team, as he has brought in defenders who would be vocal and act like a leader at the back.
However, on the technical front, the defender is found wanting as he is not too comfortable with the ball on his feet. One can put him in the category of an old-school no-nonsense defender. He is still young so sometimes he makes an error in judgement on whether to stick tight with his man or fall back deep to defend. Though with more experience, he can improve on that front and as a backup option, he would be more than a handy defender to have.
The Gers will have to shell out a decent amount even to land him on loan as English clubs like Bristol City and Ipswich Town are also in the mix to sign the young Englishman.
