STEVEN Gerrard has expressed his desire to tie up a quartet of loan signings on permanent deals at Rangers.
The duo of Ovie Ejaria and Ryan Kent, who arrived in Glasgow from Liverpool as Gerrard made the most of his strong connections with his former club, have impressed in Govan while the Rangers manager continues to speak highly of Joe Worrall and Lassana Coulibaly.
Worrall, who is on a season-long deal from Nottingham Forest, was thrust into his debut on Thursday night as Rangers earned a spirited 2-2 draw in their opening Europa League group match with Spanish side, Villarreal.
Gerrard was effusive in his praise of Worrall in the aftermath of that battle in El Madrigal and, when pressed on the subject of his various loan Rangers, the former England captain did not hide his craving for adding all four to his squad on long-term contracts.
“We have to be respectful to their parent clubs,” said Gerrard. “The three players you've mentioned and Joe Worrall in time will be added to your list, he's already on mine. They are players we've gone for because we rate them very highly. Three of them have settled really well, Joe had a really tough debut last night but came through it very well in my opinion.
“In an ideal situation, they are all on four or five-year deals but unfortunately it doesn't work like that.”
Rangers continue to benefit from Gerrard’s legendary status at Liverpool with a profitable alliance being forged between the two clubs. After taking his first step into management at Ibrox in the summer, a unique loan system was set up with Rangers getting first refusal on emerging talent that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp wants to farm out.
Gerrard added: “I'm still in Jurgen's good books for the foreseeable future and Liverpool keep winning, so maybe there is some scope [for signing them], but we rate them very highly. If you're asking me if I'd want the four of them for next year, I'd sign for the four of them right now.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here