25-year-old hasn’t played in league since Rangers links; likely to miss Euro 2020 now

Follow us on Google Discover

Scottish Premiership powerhouses Rangers made contact with Watford’s Premier League goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann last summer.

‘It is what it is’ – not the words of a scorned Love Island wannabe but of a goalkeeper who might have seen his Euro 2020 hopes go up in smoke.

Daniel Bachmann, however, might only have himself to blame.

Speaking to the Scottish Sun towards the end of his impressive loan spell at Kilmarnock, a Watford-owned shot-stopper admitted that Rangers had made contact in an attempt to lure him to Ibrox during the summer of 2019.

Bachmann, however, decided that he would be better off fighting for his place at Watford, fulfilling his contractual obligations at Vicarage Road. If he could turn back the clock, the 25-year-old would be forgiven for changing his mind.

The former Stoke City youngster has not been included in a single Premier League matchday squad all season, with his only action coming in the FA Cup against Tranmere Rovers.

Conceding five times against a club stuck in the League One relegation zone, it is fair to say Bachmann didn’t exactly shine on a rare outing between the sticks.

The Austrian insists that he is still happy with life at Vicarage Road but, speaking to the Watford Observer recently, Bachmann accepts that his lack of game-time has cost him a place in his country’s Euro 2020 squad this summer.

“It is what it is,” he says.

“I’m not playing so that [appearing at the Euros] won’t happen. I’m not really too disappointed because obviously the main focus is always your club and it just would’ve been a nice little treat to go to the Euros, but I’m sure there’ll be more to come in the next few years.”

With Wes Foderingham all-but certain to bid farewell to life at Ibrox when his contract expires in July, don’t rule out the prospect of Rangers returning for a man who made a real impression during a short spell at Rugby Park 12 months ago.

After another season stuck on the sidelines, few at Watford would begrudge him if Bachmann decided that his time was up in Hertfordshire.