Rangers appear to be closing in on a deal to sign playmaker Jon Toral.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has told ESPN that playmaker Jon Toral could join Rangers on loan in the coming days.
Toral, 21, followed Hector Bellerin from Barcelona to North London in 2011, and whilst Bellerin has become a first-team star with Arsenal, Toral’s career has been somewhat different so far.
The attacking midfielder has failed to even make an appearance for Arsenal so far, and is currently on his third loan spell away from the club, as he’s currently with Granada in his native Spain after stints with Brentford and Birmingham City.
Jon Toral of Arsenal (L) in action with Andreas Christensen of Chelsea
Whilst Toral’s move to La Liga was supposed to help him develop, the midfielder has played just five times for Granada this season, and he could be on the move again during this month’s transfer window.
The Daily Mail report that Toral is heading to Glasgow today in order to put the finishing touches on a move to Rangers, where he will reunite with his former Brentford boss Mark Warburton, and he could even make his debut for the club in a training game against RB Leipzig next weekend.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
Toral hit six goals and two assists during the 2014/15 season under Warburton, and with Rangers desperate for a new playmaker having lost Niko Kranjcar for the rest of the season through injury, Toral should play plenty of first-team football at Ibrox.
Now, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has told ESPN that the teams are working on a deal, which is made a little more complicated given that Granada would have to cancel his loan deal and send him back to England.
Speaking after Arsenal’s narrow 2-1 FA Cup win over Preston North End, Wenger added that he thinks a move to Rangers would be a ‘good transition’ for Toral, as he would play more regularly than he has been with Granada.
“We work on it to see if it is possible, yes,” said Wenger. “He has played games there [for Granada] but at the moment he doesn’t play and personally I think it would be a good transition for him,” he added.
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