Old Firm rivals Celtic and Rangers are set to compete to lure Joaquin Fernandez to the Scottish Premiership in the January transfer window.
Just a matter of days after Rangers and Celtic played out a goalless Old Firm draw at Parkhead, the Glasgow rivals are set to go head-to-head again – this time in the transfer market.
The Daily Record states that Celtic, Rangers and fellow Scottish giants Aberdeen are all tracking the development of South American wonderkid Joaquin Fernandez.
The left-sided centre-back will be watched in action for Uruguayan side River Plate at the Under-20 Copa Libertadores next month, one of the world’s most prestigious youth tournaments. And it is understood that the 18-year-old Fernandez would be open to a move to Europe.
The question, however, is where he will end up.
Rangers should be commended for looking to the future and aiming to sign highly-rated youngsters with a potentially huge re-sale value, a tactic that has worked well for Celtic over the years. But do they really need another prodigious centre-half in their ranks?
Rangers can already lay claim to owning Scotland’s most exciting defensive talent, the supremely gifted Ross McCrorie. Like the 19-year-old, fellow starlet David Bates (below) is rated very highly at Ibrox and the duo have only recently signed long-term contracts.
And then there is Aidan Wilson, the Scotland Under-19 international, who also signed a deal until 2020 this season after making his mark during Pedro Caixinha’s reign at Ibrox. To put it simply, is there any room for Fernandez in Graeme Murty’s squad?
Perhaps Celtic, who are lacking a little depth at centre-half and have seen Erik Sviatchenko and Jozo Simunovic linked with the exit, would be the better environment for Fernandez to fulfil his potential.
And that is without mentioning the fact that Brendan Rodgers tends to get the best out of his young players.
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