According to the latest reports from the Express, Rangers target George Edmundson has rejected a new chance to sign a new contract with his current club Oldham Athletic. The deal was an improved one with a long term commitment, but the young English defender has knocked that back.
This should come as good news for Rangers and other chasing clubs who are looking to sign the talented defender. Rangers recently had a bid of £400,000 turned down along with other English clubs.
However, Rangers are looking to play the waiting game as they don’t want to get into a bidding war for the defender when clubs like Hull City, Peterborough, Wigan Athletic, Stoke City and Derby County are also interested. Therefore they are willing for the dust to settle down to decide whether they want to come up with an improved offer or not.
Why Rangers need a defender?
The Gers are set to lose the services of Joe Worrall and Gareth McAuley in the next few weeks. Worrall was a first choice starter for Gerrard for the most of the season, and McAuley was more of a backup option.
Gerrard is only going to be left with Nikola Katic and Connor Goldson for the upcoming season. With Europa League qualifiers set to begin early, we expect Rangers to wrap up the signing of a defender in the early part of the transfer window.
Edmundson was the mainstay at the back for Oldham this season, and the 21-year-old showed a lot of maturity for a young defender. He is physically strong and is always committed going into challenges. The Englishman has emerged as a decent option but is yet to be tested at a higher level.
What should Rangers do now?
Therefore we think that Gerrard is playing it right by not coming up with an improved offer for the defender as of now. Moreover, Rangers should look to add an experienced defender in the summer as they already have a young and talented defender in the form of Nikola Katic. Goldson was supposed to be the leader at the back for the Gers, but he too is prone to errors.
So we would like to see the club going for an experienced option over a 21-year-old defender with lots of promise. After all, he doesn’t have the experience of playing outside of League Two. As for now, its good news for all the clubs chasing him as a new contract would have raised Edmundson’s price further in the transfer market.
