Rangers FC manager, Steven Gerrard has shifted his attention to more domestic talents and is currently eyeing up a move for Kilmarnock winger, Jordan Jones. The Light Blues had previously expressed interest in the 23-year-old under Graeme Murty.
The player himself admitted to getting affected by the rumoured transfer talks and said, “I’ll be honest, I do think my performances suffered because of it. I was performing really well and when December and January came I felt my performance dipped.”
“Even if you’re trying to block it out, you can’t log on to Twitter or Facebook without seeing your name linked. It is distracting. It was good to get that over with and concentrate on my footy again.”
Jones impressed aplenty with his 4 goals and 10 assists in 41 appearances for Killie last season. He has now racked up 84 games with the Scottish Premiership outfit and is one of their most valued players.
The 23-year-old earned two international caps for Northern Ireland from his skilled performances in the Scottish top-flight. He is best suited to the left-wing with a dominant right foot and wonderful dribbling ability but can appear from various other attacking positions as well.
Jones is a product of the Middlesbrough youth academy but could never manage a spot in the club’s senior team even after making 60 appearances for the U23 side. He was loaned out to Hartlepool United in February 2015 and to Cambridge United in November.
The Redcar-born player found it hard to break into the English game and was subsequently released by Boro in the summer of 2016. Kilmarnock beat out Rangers for the player’s signature by paying £350,000 as compensation.
Adding Jones to the talent pool at Ibrox could be a huge boost for the Gers fans ahead of the 2018/19 season. Gerrard has been tasked at returning the side to title-winning ways and that would mean for the allocation of prime youngsters to put on the club colours.
The 23-year-old is prolific from the wide areas and has feet that are quick enough to hypnotize fullbacks. He will be adding a different energy to the Gers lineup with veterans like Daniel Candeias and Scott Arfield already in the side.
He is clever with his link-up play and could gel perfectly with Josh Windass and Alfredo Morelos in the final third.
The question lies in whether Gerrard will be able to convince the winger to move to the Ibrox over the prospects of a Premier League switch.
