Stewart Downing held talks with Scottish Premiership powerhouses Rangers before joining Blackburn Rovers over Steven Gerrard’s side.
There’s life in the old dog yet.
Stewart Downing may be 35 years of age but anyone who dared to write off the veteran winger has been made to eat their words with the former England international enjoying a new lease of life at Blackburn Rovers.
In six Championship games, Downing has averaged 2.7 key passes per game, a tally only three players in the league (Barry Bannan, Mateusz Klich and John Swift) can better. The Middlesbrough legend, it must be mentioned, is on a par with Leeds’ much-admired playmaker Pablo Hernandez for key passes.
Downing has also created 16 clear chances for his Blackburn team-mates, putting him third in that particular list. Clearly, his ability to put a ball on a sixpence with that wand of a left foot is unaffected by age.
So with Rangers suffering from a severe lack of class and cutting edge during Sunday’s Old Firm derby defeat to Celtic at Ibrox, Steven Gerrard could be forgiven for wondering whether things would’ve been different if he’d succeeded in reuniting with his former Liverpool and England team-mate in Glasgow.
“(Rangers) was another option. I know Steven so I spoke to him but he had a few players already in the pipeline and I need to play games,” Downing told the Gazette in August, explaining why he ended up at Blackburn rather than The Gers.
It is easy to scoff at the idea of signing a 35-year-old free agent, especially when you consider how Joey Barton, Niko Kranjcar and Bruno Alves fared at Ibrox in recent times.
But maybe, just maybe, Downing could have made the difference against Celtic when Rangers really needed a touch of class.
The £7 million signing of Ryan Kent on deadline day gave fans something to cheer after a defeat which really puts their title chances into perspective but even the former Liverpool speedster doesn’t share Downing’s quality from a dead ball.
Now that you mention it, neither does Sheyi Ojo, Brandon Barker or Jordan Jones.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
