Rangers should be looking to bring Everton target Lukas Nmecha to Ibrox.
According to The Sun, Everton are pursuing a deal for Manchester City forward Lukas Nmecha – but Celtic and Rangers should be preparing to rival them.
Nmecha, 18, has been coming up through the ranks with City, earning a strong reputation with the Premier League giants whilst featuring for England at youth level.
The German-born forward hasn’t really pushed for the first team just yet though, and with his contract expiring at the end of the season, Everton are believed to be preparing a move to lure him to Goodison Park.
Given his contract situation at the Etihad Stadium, two teams who should be prepared to rival Everton for Nmecha’s signature are Celtic and Rangers, given the cross-border compensation rules in place.
Players under the age of 23 in the final six months of their contracts are able to move on for compensation, but heading from England to Scotland factors in cross-border rules, meaning Scottish clubs can land players from England on the cheap.
Both Celtic and Rangers have exploited this loophole in recent times; Celtic landed Moussa Dembele and Kundai Benyu at the end of their deals with Fulham and Ipswich Town respectively with out spending seven figures on the pair, whilst Rangers pulled off similar deals for Jordan Rossiter, Josh Windass and Joe Dodoo under Mark Warburton.
Nmecha should be appealing then, especially given that both Celtic and Rangers have ties to Manchester City. Celtic have use their links to Pep Guardiola’s men to sign the likes of Jason Denayer, Dedryck Boyata, Olivier Ntcham, Patrick Roberts and John Guidetti in recent years, and testimonials from those players could just convince Nmecha that Celtic are the club to join.
Meanwhile, Rangers recently appointed Mark Allen as their director of football, prising him away from Manchester City’s academy, where he will have worked closely with Nmecha on a daily basis, knowing exactly how talented he is.
Rangers could add Nmecha to strikers like Alfredo Morelos, Eduardo Herrera and Kenny Miller, bringing youth and potential to the front line, whilst Celtic’s success with Dembele means a move for Nmecha – who can also play out wide – could be appealing as a bargain deal.
Everton may win the race for Nmecha, but both Old Firm clubs should be looking to use their links to Manchester City to wade into the race with their own moves for Nmecha in 2018.
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