Rangers were reportedly keen on bringing Jack Marriott to Ibrox this past summer.
Rangers embarked on a huge recruitment drive over the summer, bringing in a total of 15 signings to bolster Steven Gerrard’s squad as all areas of the pitch were targeted.
A goalkeeper, right back, left back, four centre backs, three central midfielders, two wingers and three strikers all arrived at Ibrox over the summer, with Gerrard so far impressing with his recruits.
There were players that Rangers couldn’t land though; Millwall’s Jake Cooper sticks out as one target who slipped through the Rangers net, whilst Jack Marriott is another one.
The Scottish Sun reported over the summer that Rangers wanted to lure Marriott from Peterborough United to Ibrox, but weren’t prepared to pay £5million to bring him to Glasgow.
After 33 goals in 56 games for Peterborough, Marriott did move on, joining Derby County – and whilst the deal may reach £5million, the Daily Mail claim that the terms were worth just £2million up front.
That would have fit into Rangers’ budget, given that they spent around that on Eros Grezda later in the window and racked up more expenditure on Borna Barisic and Connor Goldson after backing away from Marriott.
Now, Marriott is starring under Gerrard’s former teammate Frank Lampard, hitting five goals in his last seven outings, as well as grabbing two assists in that time as the 24-year-old has become a sensation at Pride Park.
Rangers may now regret backing away given the terms of Derby’s deal, and the fact that Umar Sadiq is struggling; after all, a front line of Marriott, Alfredo Morelos and Kyle Lafferty may just have given Rangers the ammunition to take down Celtic this season.
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