Udinese are reportedly interested in signing Rangers target Ryan Porteous, with the Serie A side already looking at loaning the Scottish defender to Watford if they win the race for the Hibernian centre-back.
According to the Scottish Sun, the 23-year-old is on Udinese’s radar as the Italian club look to jump in on the latest trend of signing Scottish talents, with Bologna having immense success with Aaron Hickey and Lewis Ferguson in the past two seasons with Josh Doig also impressing at Hella Verona.
As per the report, though, Udinese’s owners, the Pozzo Family, are already scheming to loan Porteous to Watford if they win the race to sign the Hibernian defender, a practice that has been used multiple times over the years with the likes of Gerard Deulofeu, Roberto Pereyra and William Troost-Ekong.
With Porteous accumulating mass interest from Championship clubs as well, the race to sign the SPL talent will be an interesting one to watch, especially for Rangers fans as the Bears currently look the favourites to land the defender in the January window.
However, Udinese’s interest could be of major concern for Michael Beale and his quest to get Rangers back to their best form, with the Serie A side no doubt an alluring option for Porteous, especially if Watford one day return to the Premier League.
Indeed, the prospect of playing top-flight English football on top of playing in Italy would be an alluring project for Porteous. And for Rangers, they will have to pull off all the big stops in January if they’re to win the race for the Hibs superstar.
Rangers might have met their match in race to sign Porteous
Rangers should remain confident in their goal of bringing Porteous to Ibrox this January, yet there’s no denying that Udinese’s interest and the potential prospect of a move to Watford could be a major barrier for the Glasgow giants in the winter window.
After all, Rangers have endured a rough season both domestically and in Europe. And whilst Porteous might be keen on a move to one of Scotland’s biggest clubs, there’s no denying that other opportunities might be more appealing at this stage of the defender’s career.
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