Schalke director Rouven Schroder has denied that Martin Fraisl is set to join Scottish Premiership champions Rangers on a free transfer, speaking to WAZ.
The combined age of Rangers’ two first-team goalkeepers is 74. What’s more, Allan McGregor will be a free-agent this summer while Jon McLaughlin has a decision to make regarding his own Ibrox future after making just 11 first-team appearances all season.
This is a rather long-winded way of saying that, come the summer, Rangers may have no choice but to make a new shot-stopper one of their top priorities.
And that’s where Fraisl comes in.
Despite establishing himself as Schalke’s number one – ousting club legend Ralf Farhmann – Fraisl, like McGregor, is due to depart when his contract expires in July. His availability has not gone unnoticed either.
According to reports, clubs in Serie A, La Liga, the Premier League and the English Championship are watching developments closely. German publication Spox, meanwhile, believe that Fraisl has already been offered a two-year deal at Ibrox.
According to Schroder, however, nothing is set in stone just yet, contrary to popular belief.
Will Martin Fraisl be Rangers’ new goalkeeper?
“As things stand at present, no decisions have been made in the squad planning,” the director says when asked about the 28-year-old Austrian’s Veltins Arena future.
Fraisl has been far from faultless between the sticks at Schalke. He’s kept just six clean sheets in 17 games. That is despite Schalke sitting fifth in the table, just five points behind league-leaders Werder Bremen.
What’s more, Fraisl had only made 30 top-flight league games before joining Schalke in the summer of 2020. That’s quite the statistic, given that Fraisl turns 29 in May.
If Rangers opt for a more low-risk solution to their goalkeeping problem, the Glasgow giants may turn to St Johnstone’s Zander Clark. Or Dundee United’s Benjamin Siegrist, perhaps.
Both of whom are reportedly Rangers targets too.
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