Rangers’ appetite to bring in free agents seems to be never-ending as recently it has been revealed that they tried to sign former Manchester United defender Alexander Buttner. The player himself has provided the update. Along with the Gers, even Celtic were keeping tabs on him.
Buttner on his future
Speaking to De Gelderlander, Buttner said, ”There was a lot of interest this summer. Vitesse wanted to keep me, and there was a three-year deal on offer, but we couldn’t figure it out. Besiktas then put in a concrete offer, but that fell through. Fenerbahce, PAOK, Apoel Nicosia and Celtic were all interested. This week Rangers and Stoke City became interested. But the decision had already been made. Revolution it is.”
The fullback is set to depart from Vitesse Arnhem to MLS side New England Revolution. Buttner is certainly not moving to America for footballing reasons, and most likely, it is probably because of the lifestyle. He named quite a few clubs who are playing European football at the moment including Celtic and Rangers.
Therefore snubbing that to move to MLS suggests that he doesn’t want to take the pressure of playing in tough competitions.
Buttner, 30, managed to make just handful appearances for Manchester United. He was part of a Premier League-winning squad as he deputised for Patrick Evra at left-back. The fullback even earned few appearances in the Champions League as well.
Do Rangers need a left-back?
Borna Barisic has been in terrific form in the past few weeks, and he has played some of his best football in Rangers shirt. He is firmly the first choice left-back at the club. Apart from that, Gerrard has Andy Halliday and Jon Flanagan who can fill in at left-back. Flanagan is currently out for some time after his hernia operation.
Gerrard has got just one natural left-back at his disposal in Barisic, but we think that Flanagan is a decent backup option to have.
Big miss for Rangers?
Well, given the fact that Buttner decided to move to MLS suggests that he might not have had the mentality to succeed in a demanding environment at the moment. It would have been understandable if he snubbed Rangers to move to Besiktas or Fenerbahce, but he probably chose the easy option out at this stage of his career. The Bears should be okay as long as Barisic continues with his impressive form and doesn’t get a long term injury.
