Glasgow Rangers are interested in Joao Teixeira, who Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers managed at Liverpool.
FC Porto talent Joao Teixeira has been linked with signing for Glasgow Rangers, the Daily Mail report.
Teixeira signed for the Portuguese giants in the summer, and Rangers have their eye on a loan move for the former Liverpool talent.
Liverpool’s Joao Carlos Teixeira during training
Teixeira is known to Rangers boss Mark Warburton, he once starred for Sporting Lisbon in the NextGen Series, a youth tournament he helped create.
These displays earned him a move to Liverpool, where he spent time at Brighton and Hove Albion on loan and featured against Warburton’s Brentford.
He is even better known to the manager at Scottish league leaders Celtic, with Brendan Rodgers handing the attacking midfielder his Liverpool debut.
Liverpool’s Joao Carlos Teixeira in action with Augburg’s Paul Verhaegh
Speaking in 2014 Teixeira hailed Rodgers, telling the Daily Post: “He is an amazing person. A really intelligent guy about football.
“He knows how to talk with the players to get everything from them. He is great with motivating the players as well.”
Teixeira could not build on his breakthrough at Liverpool and his career at the club had already fizzled out before Jurgen Klopp took over.
Rodgers regarded Teixeira highly, telling Liverpool’s official website in 2014 after his debut: “We introduced another young player in Joao Teixeira, who has done great in our reserve team.
“Not only did he show that he could come in and play with some of our top players, he’s also shown he can fight for the team. He made a great block at the end and it was equally important for us.”
Yet despite this, Rodgers did not give him many chances, much to the frustration of Liverpool supporters, who watched him star in pre-season and in rare opportunities in EFL Cup games.
Fan website Liverpool-Kop ran an editorial arguing Rodgers’ mismanagement of Teixeira cost the club the development of a player who could have been worth £20 million.
Liverpool’s Joao Carlos Teixeira in action with Exeter’s Matthew Oakley
Last season Teixeira was persuaded to stay by Rodgers, but he left the youngster out of the Europa League squad, a tournament which should have provided him an opportunity to play.
Teixeira clearly had and has strong feelings about Rodgers and will be thankful he got his chance, but in the two years since his debut he was not provided with more opportunities, and a chance to join Rangers is a perfect opportunity to prove a point against the Celtic boss and even exact revenge for not using him properly at Liverpool.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
