According to the latest reports from the Daily Mail, Rangers are eyeing a deal for Oldham’s centre back George Edmundson. Oldham reportedly knocked down bids from Stoke City and Sunderland not too long ago. The 21-year-old is being valued at £450,000 by the League Two outfit.
Rangers recently missed out on signing Edson Mexer who was available on a free transfer. The defender went on to sign for Ligue 1 outfit Bordeaux even though Gerrard had personally gone to France to negotiate a deal for the defender.
Why do Rangers need to add a centre back?
One can understand why Rangers desperately need a defender as they are going to lose the services of two centre backs in the next few weeks. Gareth McAuley was signed on a one year deal last summer, and Joe Worrall’s loan spell is expiring soon.
That would leave Rangers with Connor Goldson and Nikola Katic as the only two centre backs at the club. With Europa League qualifiers to contest, it is understandable why Gerrard is after a defender early on in the transfer window.
21-year-old Edmundson played a whopping 54 games for the English fourth-tier side this season, and he managed to establish himself as their first choice centre half. The defender has his contract at the club until 2020, and quite a few English clubs are still interested in Edmundson. Stoke City, Sunderland, Hull City, Preston and Fleetwood Town are said to be monitoring the situation of the defender.
Why might Rangers be able to beat their competition?
It remains to be seen whether Rangers will be able to beat their competition to sign the Englishman. They are the only club who can offer the Edmundson a chance to play in European football so that might be enough to beat other English clubs.
Edmundson is being seen as the next James Tarkowski as the current Burnley man also started his footballing journey with Oldham and is now a regular feature for his side in the Premier League.
A good bet for Gerrard?
Rangers probably would be better off signing an experienced defender for the next season but for the quoted amount, Edmundson can turn out to be a shrewd signing. He seems to have that physical side to his game which is necessary for the Scottish Premiership. However, the defender might take some time to settle in at the club. Nevertheless, we feel that he can be a reliable option to have after he gains some experience of the Scottish Premiership.
