Rangers have been linked with re-signing former forward Kyle Lafferty.

The Northern Ireland international impressed in his debut season at Hearts last term and showed that he can still handle the rigours of the Scottish Premiership.

According to media reports Hearts have thrown out a bid of around £200k from The Gers but it’s believed the Glasgow club will make a new offer, whether it meets The Jambos rumoured £750k price tag remains to be seen.

The news that the Ibrox side were interested in their former striker has received a mixed response from Gers fans and pundits alike.

Personally, I can see why Rangers manager Steven Gerrard would like to bring the attacker back to Govan.

When you look at the current Rangers squad you can see that they need more attacking options and bringing an experienced forward has to be a priority for the new coaching team.

They currently have strikers Alfredo Morelos and AS Roma loanee Umar Sadiq in their ranks. Both are young and a bit raw.

Morelos is a goalscorer and he proved that last term. He can also be a focal point and defend from the front. He’s a spiky character but he can also suffer from dips in form.

He also performed strongly when he was partnered by veteran hitman Kenny Miller, who has since departed Ranger and is now the Livingston player-manager.

Lafferty would add that experience to the frontline and could play off Morelos or new boy Sadiq. Kyle can work the channels, has good link-up play and his movement can create space for another hitman.

The Northern Irishman is also capable of leading the line by himself and can score goals. His year at Tynecastle has been the best scoring season in his thirteen year career.

The thirty year old is also a big game player and that is something that will catch Gerrard’s eye. Lafferty has done well in his previous Old Firm outings and he grabbed goals for Hearts against Rangers, Celtic and Hibs in the last campaign. He was also a key member of the Northern Ireland side that qualified for Euro 2016.

Like returning goalkeeper Allan McGregor, Lafferty would be able to walk into the Gers dressing room and know already what it’s like to be a Gers player and what it takes to win trophies in Scotland. That experience could be invaluable for Gerrard’s squad at the moment.

Lafferty would certainly be an ideal replacement for Miller and he’d be an upgrade on Mexican front-man Eduard Herrera.

He would offer the Ibrox outfit vital experience in the forward areas and the player has never hidden away from his hope that he’d once again play for the club again:

“The longer you stay at a club like Rangers the better you adapt and although it didn’t end the way I would have liked, I still have a lot of great memories and I would like to go back and play for Rangers again one day.”

So for me, I totally understand why Steven Gerrard would like to see Kyle Lafferty in a Rangers jersey again as he gives him that needed experience, add depth to the squad and give the gaffer more options.

It’s now up to the Gers hierarchy to do a deal with their counterparts at Hearts. I don’t doubt that Jambos boss Craig Levein will fight to keep the hitman at Tynecastle, so it could be a while yet before a deal is done (one way or another).

 

Posted on July 28th, 2018 by scott
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