Steven Gerrard is facing an uncertain future at Scottish Premiership giants Rangers – but could he be joined at Ibrox by £9m forward Caleb Ekuban?
Steven Gerrard is less than two years into his managerial career but he appears to have reached a crossroads already.
As the man himself mused following Rangers’ oh-so disappointing Scottish Cup quarter-final defeat to relegation-threatened Hearts in February, should I stay or should I go?
And while Gerrard calmed himself down a little in the aftermath of that shock defeat, claiming that he is still very much committed to the Glasgow giants, the question once vociferously posed by 70s punk rockers The Clash must still be rattling around his brain.
Three months ago, after a first win away at Celtic in a decade, Rangers were dreaming of ending their nine year wait for Scottish Premiership glory. Now, when the season resumes, there is very little left to play for.
The league has gone, both the domestic cups are a distant dream, and a 3-1 home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League renders the second leg in Germany all rather moot.
Rangers, more than ever, need to prove to Gerrard that they have the ambition, and the funds, to back his lofty vision for the club. And what better way to do so than by signing a £9 million striker who is also on the radar of seven-time European champions AC Milan (Fanatik)?
Caleb Ekuban is hardly the most prolific of forwards but, with 16 goals and assists to his name for Trabzonspor this season, the one-time Leeds United attacker is in the form of his life over in Turkey.
That £9 million fee would make the Italy-born Ghana international the second-biggest signing in Rangers’ history – and the biggest since Tore Andre Flo in the year 2000 (Fotospor).
That alone would make Ekuban the kind of statement signing Rangers need to make, not just to show Celtic they mean business but to convince their prized asset to stick around – manager Steven Gerrard.
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