Should Ibrox side Glasgow Rangers consider re-signing the Scottish defender?
Let’s face it, Rangers could struggle to keep James Tavernier beyond this season.
Steven Gerrard has taken the right-back to a new level this season and it’s very possible that some English clubs will try and lure him away from Ibrox this summer.
It is Gerrard and Rangers’ Director of Football Mark Allen’s job to preempt interest in their best players and react accordingly, so signing a right-back this month wouldn’t go amiss.
They won’t find a top-drawer replacement at this stage of the window, but what they can do is put a plan in place to strengthen that position in anticipation of next season.
And Alan Hutton might just interest the Gers.
According to The Birmingham Mail, Hutton, who earns £30,000 per week at Aston Villa [Silly Season], is on his way out of Aston Villa and, with his contract expiring in June, is allowed to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with non-English sides.
And at 34, it seems unlikely that the Villans will be signing him up for an extension, but despite his advancing years he could still be a brilliant option at Ibrox – either as Tavernier’s replacement or someone to cover the English defender next term.
He’s undoubtedly getting on in years, but that wouldn’t be a problem for a Rangers manager who has signed Steven Davis – Hutton’s old team-mate in Glasgow – and Jermain Defoe this month.
The Scot, who joined the Scottish giants when he was 16 and spent six years in the senior team until 2008, is on record as saying that he still loves the club [The Record].
Some Blues fans will argue that it’s better to trust someone like Jordan Houston instead but, with respect, the 18-year-old right-back only made his debut on Sunday. There is no indication as of yet that he’ll be good enough to either replace Tavernier or compete with him, but Hutton is.
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