Glasgow Rangers loanee Joe Worrall stayed at Ibrox beyond the January transfer window.
Martin O’Neill has admitted that he would have loved to have been able to recall Joe Worrall from his loan spell at Rangers during the January transfer window, and, in comments reported by the Daily Record, seemed to close the door on the possibility of the centre-back staying at Ibrox beyond this season.
It surprised plenty of Nottingham Forest fans in the summer when Aitor Karanka sanctioned the defender’s exit, with Steven Gerrard bringing him to Rangers for the campaign.
Gerrard has used Worrall regularly during his time with the Gers, and he previously suggested that he would love to be able to keep the 22-year-old beyond the initial loan spell (via Sunday Post).
It did appear unlikely, with Worrall suggesting to the Daily Record at the weekend that he was expecting to be back at the City Ground next term.
And O’Neill’s latest comments appear to have confirmed that Worrall will not be staying at Rangers beyond this season, with the new Forest boss insisting that he would have tried to bring him back last month had he had the option to do so.
“He is doing well there, which is good. I think that whatever arrangement was made, he ended up playing the required number of games for Rangers to keep him at the club,” he said, as reported by the Daily Record. “Otherwise he would have been here and there is a fairly decent chance he would have been playing for us
“I wasn’t around at the time and I can understand how these arrangements are made. But there was no way back for us, in that aspect. I think he would have been around the scene now, in this moment. He is somebody we will very much look forward to working with next season. Absolutely. Very much so.”
Unfortunately for Worrall, there are probably plenty of Rangers fans who will not be particularly disappointed that the defender looks set to leave as planned in the summer.
His form has been inconsistent, and there were some who were not entirely happy with his comments at the weekend.
He does have the potential to win the supporters over. He was sensational in December’s Old Firm win and Gerrard appears to be a big fan. But with his exit seemingly confirmed and Nikola Katic remaining an incredibly popular member of the squad amongst the fans, Worrall does perhaps have an uphill task ahead of him in the remaining months of the season.
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