Glasgow Rangers are reportedly interested in signing Martin Skrtel, while Bruno Alves is apparently free to leave Ibrox.
Steven Gerrard seems to have wasted little time setting out some ambitious plans for his first summer as Rangers boss, with The Scottish Sun reporting this week that he wishes to bring Jermain Defoe, Lucas Leiva and Martin Skrtel to Ibrox.
While all three will be huge signings for the Light Blues if they manage to get deals done, Skrtel’s arrival would certainly be a fantastic piece of business given the problems that the Gers have endured in defence this term and how urgent strengthening their centre-back options is.
David Bates has arguably been the best performing centre-back on Rangers’ books this term, but he is leaving for Hamburg so Gerrard is definitely doing the right thing targeting some new signings in that area of the pitch.
Meanwhile, The Scotsman has also reported this week that Bruno Alves is amongst the large group of players on Rangers’ books that are expected to leave the club during the summer as they look out to clear out some of the poor signings from both Mark Warburton’s and Pedro Caixinha’s tenures. Alves has not exactly been a terrible addition by any means, but he has certainly not shown his full quality since arriving.
With Fenerbahce potentially reluctant to let Skrtel go – the 33-year-old has made 21 top flight appearances this term so is clearly still an important player – perhaps Rangers should consider offering a swap that would see the Gers suggest Alves heading back to the Turkish club with the former Liverpool ace heading into the opposite direction.
With Alves a few years older, Rangers would surely need to throw in some cash as part of the deal also, but it is certainly worth suggesting as that would allow Fener to get an experienced defender in as a replacement straight away.
There may be some Rangers fans who would argue that letting Alves leave would be a mistake. But if the Gers are determined to let him move on in the summer, perhaps they should try and steer him towards his old club in the hope that it may boost their chances of signing one of Gerrard’s major targets.
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