The Bournemouth playmaker arrived at Ibrox earlier this week – have Rangers found their new creative star?
Former Rangers midfielder Alejandro Bedoya believes compatriot Emerson Hyndman can be the creative spark Mark Warburton needs, The Times reports.
The 20-year-old playmaker arrived at Ibrox on loan from Bournemouth earlier this week amid high expectations, with the Daily Record reporting that the blue half of Glasgow had beaten Old Firm rivals Celtic, as well as bonafide European giants AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund, to his signature.
However, the signing has been viewed in some quarters as another indication of Rangers’ decline, forced to bring in unproven talents on temporary deals while Brendan Rodgers’ league-leaders scour the market for established talent.
Nonetheless, Bedoya, who spent the 2011/12 season at Ibrox, believes Hyndman can add creativity to a Rangers midfield rendered rather toothless by the long-term absence of Niko Kranjcar.
“I fully believe he can not only add to what Rangers have got but make them stronger,” Bedoya told The Times of his fellow USA international, who made his debut for the USMNT when he was just 18.
“He has that great ability to work in tight spaces in the midfield area and can turn defence into attack in a heartbeat. I think he will help Rangers score more goals in the second half of the season and that will obviously be good for the team.
“I know they have been lacking a bit of creativity since the injury to Niko Kranjcar and I reckon Emerson can help solve that problem.”
Rangers have only found the net 28 times in 21 Scottish Premierships fixtures this season, two more than bottom placed Inverness, so the pressure will be on Hyndman to increase the Glasgow giants’ output in the second half of the campaign.
And legendary German coach Felix Magath only ramped up the expectation when he compared the former Fulham youngster to Italian icon Andrea Pirlo recently, as reported by the Scottish Sun.
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