Should Rangers look to sign Fulham striker Matt Smith?

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Glasgow Rangers boss Mark Warburton is continuing his search to for another striker to bring to Ibrox.

Rangers manager Mark Warburton confirmed that he wants to bolster his attacking options

Mark Warburton confirmed to the Evening Times earlier this month that he was still hoping to sign a new striker ahead of Rangers’ return to the Scottish Premiership.

With Martyn Waghorn and Kenny Miller largely scoring goals for fun last season, the Light Blues should be targeting someone that would ask different questions of opposition defenders to give them more variety at the highest level.

Martyn Waghorn finished as the side’s top goalscorer last season

Fulham forward Matt Smith would arguably provide that variety in abundance.

His height would unquestionably allow for the Gers to adopt a more direct style if it was required, but it would be foolish to suggest that he was not capable of finding the back of the net using his feet.

The 27-year-old’s record in front of goal is pretty impressive considering that 93 of his 161 league appearances since moving to Oldham in 2011 have come from the substitutes’ bench.

Matt Smith

Having played for the likes of Leeds and the Cottagers, he would surely have a fairly strong idea of the expectation that exists at Ibrox. United are always spoken of as a team that should be contending for promotion from the Championship given their history, while Fulham only fell out of the top flight a couple of years ago so often also feature in the same conversations.

And with Waghorn proving that he is more than capable of scoring goals as one of the wide-men in a front three, Smith’s presence in the middle would certainly not hinder last season’s top scorer’s own tally.

Smith would allow the Gers the chance to adopt a more direct style

In fact, the problems that Smith could cause could make the former Sunderland man’s task easier as he may be earmarked as the man that sides need to mark out of the game, which may enable the likes of Waghorn and Miller to exploit the spaces left behind.

With Fulham losing Moussa Dembele to Rangers’ Old Firm rivals recently, it remains to be seen how they would feel about letting another of their forwards go this summer. But if Warburton was able to pull off a deal, it could provide his squad with the kind of depth up front that very few teams will be able to cope with.