Rangers are interested in bringing Asmir Begovic to Ibrox in 2023 as Michael Beale targets a new goalkeeper.
That is according to journalist Alex Crook, who believes the £43,000-a-week glovesman is a target for the Scottish giants as they aim to make up ground on Celtic.
If a deal does materialise for Rangers and Beale, it would seemingly come with the approval of Jose Mourinho.
What’s the story?
Well, the Portuguese tactician was a huge admirer of Begovic while working with the 35-year-old at Chelsea.
In fact, Mourinho even used the Bosnian ahead of Thibaut Courtois at one stage, which spoke volumes given the fact the Belgium international was one of the best around at that point, and has since improved drastically at Real Madrid.
The Evening Standard quoted the 59-year-old as saying: “We don’t miss Petr (Cech). We’ve got a good keeper, the problem with Petr is not that we miss him because we have two excellent keepers. Thibaut and Asmir are two fantastic keepers.”
Begovic moved to Bournemouth following his impressive spell at Chelsea, before joining Everton to add to his incredible amount of Premier League appearances.
In total, the shot-stopper has played 256 games in England’s top-flight.
Begovic has kept 63 clean sheets in those outings, while even scoring a goal back in the 2013/14 campaign.
Rangers must find someone younger than Begovic
In our view, Beale must bring a younger goalkeeper to Rangers.
Admittedly, Begovic would be a much fresher alternative to the 40-year-old Allan McGregor, but the Everton No.15 is still far from a spring chicken himself at the age of 35.
Beale and Ross Wilson would only be solving the goalkeeping issue on a short-term basis with a deal for Begovic, so someone in their twenties – such as Angus Gunn, for example – may be a better option.
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