According to the latest reports from the Scotsman, Rangers are prioritising a January deal for out of favour Liverpool forward Dominic Solanke. Even in the summer window, Steven Gerrard tried his luck in bringing (The Scotsman) the English forward to Ibrox, but nothing materialised at that time. However, this time around we feel the Bears have an excellent chance of landing the 21-year-old striker.
What makes us confident is that the English forward hasn’t featured at all in the Liverpool matchday squads in the Premier League and has fallen down the pecking order after the likes of Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge came back from their loan spells.
It’s clear that Klopp prefers the other two apart from the obvious first choice forward Roberto Firmino. Sturridge’s comeback to fitness has been a big boost for Liverpool but for someone like Solanke; it has brought bad news.
Rangers, on the other hand, depend heavily on Alfredo Morelos and apart from him, they have Kyle Lafferty who can play in the striker’s role. After the dismal performance of Umar Sadiq in the League Cup semi-final, it’s clear that he is currently out of the picture now. Therefore a striker should be on the list of Gerrard’s shopping plans in January.
Solanke could be a game changer for Rangers given his quality as a striker. He is yet to prove his credentials at the club level, but he has always stood out at the youth level while playing for England. So much so that he was even brought into the senior squad as well and has an appearance for the Three Lions. Not many English forwards make it to the senior team without even being a regular for a club, so that shows how much he is rated by everyone in England.
Last season, he got his chances as he made 21 appearances in the Premier League but managed only one goal. To be fair, he often came on as a late substitute. But he needed to prove himself in that time frame only given the quality of players he is competing for a spot with at this time.
With Origi and Sturridge coming back, it seems like Solanke might have lost his chance to establish himself at Anfield and a loan spell would probably be the right way to go for him.
Solanke can play as a target man up front, as well as he can make runs by playing on the shoulders of the defenders. He is hard working and presses from the top, and this is the right ploy from Gerrard in prioritising a loan move for him. Though with some Premier League clubs also in the mix (The Sun), the former Liverpool captain will have his task cut out.
