Glasgow Rangers should try an ambitious loan bid in an attempt to bring an academy graduate back to Ibrox this summer.
New Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha
With Rangers’ current top goalscorers in the Scottish Premiership boasting just six goals each, it would hardly be a surprise if Pedro Caixinha targeted a new striker in the summer, especially with Martyn Waghorn being linked with a host of teams in England, including Nottingham Forest and Sunderland (via Daily Mail).
It would certainly be a very ambitious swoop, and the Gers would certainly need plenty of circumstances to go their way to pull it off, but perhaps a loan bid for former Ibrox academy prospect Ross McCormack could come at the perfect time for both the player and Aston Villa.
Up until this season, McCormack had established himself as one of the most reliable goalscorers in the Championship, having scored 89 league goals across the previous five campaigns before his £12 million move to Villa Park.
This season however, has been a major struggle for the Scotland international with just three goals coming in 20 league games for Villa before he joined Nottingham Forest on loan.
Life at the City Ground has not started well either, with just one goal in seven Championship fixtures for Forest. Some supporters would argue that he has not featured often enough to be fully judged, and the recent arrival of former Gers boss Mark Warburton at the club may inspire a sharp turnaround for the 30-year-old.
Aston Villa’s Ross McCormack
If it does not however, and McCormack returns to Villa having failed to prove himself to Steve Bruce, then the Villans may not only not have him in their plans, but perhaps they may also struggle to permanently offload him to another team given that he currently earns £45,000 a week (via Daily Mail).
Rangers would not be able to subsidise a large portion of his wages if they made a bid, but Villa would be foolish to allow him to move to another Championship club in the summer rather than let him go to the Scottish Premiership for a year if they were willing to sanction a loan move.
The unpredictability of the Championship means that all teams begin the campaign with a chance of promotion, so Villa will know that letting him head elsewhere in the division could see a team strengthened that could become a potential rival come the business end of the season.
Meanwhile, letting him head back to Scotland for a year may give him a greater chance of getting a significant number of goals under his belt.
And given that that may give Villa the best chance to see the best return on their initial investment – he may return to the club a confident striker once again or may attract bids from elsewhere – it may not be out of the question to suggest that they may be willing to pay the majority of his wages, especially if they are unable to find another buyer and he remains out of Steve Bruce’s plans.
Of course, it would certainly be an ambitious and probably unlikely move, but if Rangers want to close the gap to Celtic, they need to show some ambition in the market and target some marquee names, even if they only join on loan.
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