Latest reports from the Scotsman suggest that Everton’s attacking midfielder Kieran Dowell is likely to join an English Championship side on loan in the January window and would snub advances from Rangers. A few weeks back, a report from the Daily Record came out that the Gers were looking at the 21-year-old as a possible option to bolster their squad in January and the same report added that the Glaswegian giants were lining up a move for him.
However, it is more or less likely now that Steven Gerrard would have to look somewhere else as the midfielder is set to prefer a move to an English side. The Bears have been tracking Dowell for quite some time now as not too long ago it was reported that Gerrard and Gary McAllister were present in attendance to watch Dowell in action for the England u-21 side when they played against Scotland’s u-21 at Tynecastle.
This should come as a big blow for the Scottish giants if they were seriously eyeing a move for the midfielder. Gerrard had earlier claimed (The Scottish Sun) that signing a no. 10 is a priority in January. Dowell was in a similar mould as a player as he has that creative side to his game to pick out a killer pass in the final third.
Gerrard’s men have done well to remain in the title race as they have been neck to neck with Celtic for the most parts this season. However, they still need to add some firepower to their squad even after making 15 signings in the summer transfer window. Sometimes the Gers have been guilty of not winning games even though they have been the dominant side and a lot of it comes down to not creating that killer ball in the final third.
Dowell was part of the England team which won the FIFA u-20 World Cup and he has been a regular at various youth levels for the Three Lions. Everton haven’t been able to give him much game time so it is expected that they would look to ship him on loan in January.
Rangers have a decent amount of options in the middle of the park but none of them stands out as a playmaker, and almost all of them are industrious players who are good at doing the nitty gritty job in midfield.
After the departure of Ovie Ejaria to Liverpool, it is even more critical for the club to look for a midfield creator as the Bears depend too heavily on building up their attacks from the wide region. Now with Dowell unlikely to come at Ibrox, Gerrard needs to look at other options in January if they want to stop Celtic from defending their title once again.
