Steven Gerrard was recently asked in an interview about his loan players’ performances, and the gaffer didn’t mince any words by saying that he would sign all four of them. The interviewer specifically asked him about whether Ovie Ejaria, Ryan Kent and Lassana Coulibaly would be signed on a permanent basis, to which Gerrard replied,”Are you bugging my phone? The three players you’ve mentioned and Joe Worrall in time will be added to your list – he’s already on mine.”
”They are players we’ve gone for because we rate them very highly. Three of them have settled really well, Joe had a really tough debut [against Villarreal] but came through it very well in my opinion. In an ideal situation, they are all on four or five-year deals but unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. If you’re asking me if I’d want the four of them for next year, I’d sign the four of them right now.”- he added further.
So even though the interviewer didn’t ask him about Joe Worrall, Gerrard did go on to mention his name. However, one of the on-loan players was not included by Gerrard in this list and that was Umar Sadiq, and that might indicate that the Gers are with him on a short-term basis. The striker who is on loan from AS Roma has found it tough to get chances in the first eleven as Gerrard has so far preferred Kyle Lafferty and Alfredo Morelos over him.
Rangers thrashed St.Johnstone in the last game 5-1, and Sadiq didn’t even make the bench in that game, and therefore it’s clear that the Nigerian is finding it hard to impress Gerrard in training.
Sadiq had earlier admitted that he is still keen to prove his worth and he is not thinking about cutting his loan spell short after not having made much of an impact in the first two months. The signing of Kyle Lafferty late in the transfer window did indicate that Gerrard didn’t trust the Nigerian forward to lead the line. The 21-year-old has so far played 26 minutes of football over the course of three games this season.
Sadiq’ performance at the youth level has been outstanding. Before signing for Roma, he played for Spezia Primavera where he scored 27 goals in 32 appearances. At the Roma youth level, the 21-year-old continued with his goal-scoring prowess as he banged in 14 goals in 10 appearances and along with that, he made five assists. Such numbers are impressive, but the striker now needs to deliver the goods at the top level, and it seems like he is finding the going a bit tough now that the stakes have been upped.
The forward looks more like a short-term backup option at Ibrox and one doesn’t see the Gers making a deal for him after his loan spell comes to an end.
