According to the latest reports from Daily Record, Rangers are considering meeting Oldham Athletic’s demand of £1m for their star centre back George Edmundson. For the uninitiated, it was believed earlier that the defender would come in the price range of £450,000
Rangers went up as high as £600,000, but their bid was knocked back, and the Latics are demanding £1m for their prized asset. Earlier it was reported that Gerrard would pull out of the race, but now it seems like the manager has changed his mind and wants the English defender to come to Ibrox.
Why is Gerrard desperate to land a centre half?
The Gers lost the services of Joe Worrall and Gareth McAuley as their contracts expired. The club only has two centre backs in the form of Connor Goldson and Nikola Katic. With Europa League qualifiers set to begin early, Rangers would try to bring in a centre half in the early part of the season to prepare for the competition.
Gerrard tried to bring in Edson Mexer from Ligue 1, but he decided to join Bordeaux. Therefore maybe the manager is desperate to sign a centre back, and now he has decided to breach the million mark to land Edmundson.
What can Edmundson bring at Ibrox?
The 21-year-old is attracting a fair bit of interest from Championship clubs as well, and the Englishman did well in the League Two for Oldham where he made 54 appearances for them in all competitions. The defender was a mainstay for his side at the back, and he was applauded for his performance even though the Latics finished 14th on the table.
Edmundson has impressive strength which should allow him to cope with the physical demands of the Scottish Premiership. However, he is still young, and the challenge to play for Rangers could be a bit too much for him. Rangers already have a young defender in the form of Katic, and they should look to sign an experienced centre half instead.
Is Gerrard taking the right call by paying considering paying £1m?
The defender is set to enter in the final year of his contract and Oldham are definitely trying to get as much money as they can for him. The fact that he is unproven at a tougher level makes us sceptical about Gerrard meeting the £1m price range.
However, one can understand that the manager might be desperate to assemble his squad for the next season, and one cannot function with just two centre backs. So maybe that is why Gerrard is considering paying £1m instead of going after someone else and investing the time there.
