Glasgow Rangers have reportedly been interested in bringing Jake Hastie to Ibrox this summer.
James McFadden told Sky Sports’ pre-match coverage of Rangers’ win on Sunday (broadcast on 7/4 from 12:00) that he would not be surprised if the Gers were still interested in Jake Hastie, while Kris Commons tipped the youngster to have a bright future ahead of him.
Steven Gerrard got the chance to watch Hastie from fairly close at the weekend as the winger started against the Gers at Fir Park in a game that the visitors would win 3-0 thanks to a Scott Arfield hat-trick.
But Gerrard is already fully aware of the 20-year-old, it seems. The Evening Times recently reported that Rangers had already agreed a pre-contract deal with Hastie ahead of the summer, but pulled the plug on a move as talks dragged.
But former Motherwell ace McFadden suggested that he could imagine that Rangers have not completely given up on signing the starlet given his potential.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they were still interested because he’s an exciting young player,” he told Sky Sports. “When Jake was a young kid, he used to just run up and done the straight lines and try go down the outside all the time. But he’s really direct, he runs forward with a purpose. And what he’s brought since he’s come back [from being out on loan] is a goal threat. He’s scored all different types of goals.”
Meanwhile, Commons also expressed a lot of excitement about Hastie’s potential, alluding to the starlet’s comments about looking up to one of the world’s best players.
“What I really do like about him is that he’s not coming inside and thinking, ‘what shall I do with it?’ He’s direct. He comes inside, he knows exactly what he wants to do and that’s hit the target. And it’s not so much picking a corner out. He’s just putting his laces through the ball. I read recently that he really admires Gareth Bale. With that sort of pace, that power at just 20 years of age with a goal threat, he’s got a big future ahead of him,” Commons said.
Rangers have a lot of wide options, and will add to their ranks in the summer when Jordan Jones arrives. But Hastie appears to be the kind of player that Gerrard must not shut the door on as he continues to impress.
If the Gers cannot keep Ryan Kent beyond his loan spell, getting someone like Hastie in could be a fantastic piece of business, especially when you consider that he is set to be a free agent in the summer.
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