Rangers missed out on signing Aston Villa starlet Rushian Hepburn-Murphy in January – but the deal should be revisited one year on.
There is light at the end of the tunnel for Rushian Hepburn-Murphy. The Aston Villa youngster continues to battle his way through a series of injury problems that have dogged him over the last 12 months.
Though, according to the Birmingham Mail, things are starting to look up. Though still a month away from returning to full training, Hepburn-Murphy is now taking part in light running drills.
Once the issue of fitness is out of the way, however, Villa’s youngest ever Premier League debutant faces another challenge. In his absence, fellow fresh-faced starlets Keinan Davis (below, left) and Callum O’Hare have burst onto the first-team picture.
Davis has started nine Championship games this season, leading the line with presence and aggression, while manager Steve Bruce is a big fan of the technically gifted academy star O’Hare.
Hepburn-Murphy, once the toast of Villa’s youth team, has taken on the role of forgotten man as he is overtaken in the pecking order by two new starlets.
Forgotten man
A long-awaited move to Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers, then, could be exactly what the striker needs. The Daily Record reported in December 2016 that the Gers were desperate to bring Hepburn-Murphy to Ibrox – only for the 19-year-old to ink a new three-and-a-half year deal in the spring.
As it stands, however, it is difficult to see how Hepburn-Murphy can force his way back into Villa’s first-team plans, even if he does put his injury issues behind him. The teenager is not only behind Jonathan Kodjia and Scott Hogan in the pecking order but now Davis and O’Hare too.
Rangers, then, could offer Hepburn-Murphy far more regular game-time – especially with Eduardo Herrera’s future uncertain and Kenny Miller now 37.
A short-term loan away from Villa Park could be exactly what Hepburn-Murphy needs in January. And Rangers may be happy to oblige.
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