Winger Morgan Whittaker has addressed the prospect of joining Rangers amid persistent interest in the Plymouth Argyle star.
Record Sport revealed the forward, who Michael Beale wanted when he was in charge at Ibrox during Whittaker’s time at Swansea, was back on the Light Blues radar last summer – with the English Championship side holding out for a bumper £7m deal to snap up the 23-year-old. Despite interest from the Scottish Premiership and a late move from Burnley in the window, Whittaker remains on the south coast.
Following the win over Luton Town on Friday night, the forward opened up on summer interest from Rangers, telling the Western Morning News: “I have been in this situation before so I know how to handle it and I found ways it worked for me, and that’s just focusing on what I can do. I think the difference to when I was at Swansea is I knew I was going to play here. In my eyes it was a win-win because I love it here and I’m playing all the time, and if I got the chance to move it would be to the higher level I want to be getting to. I didn’t see it as a bad position to be in.”
In terms of potential January incomings, Andy Halliday insists his Motherwell teammate Lennon Miller is ready to make a move to Ibrox – and shouldn’t have to go to another club first to tempt Rangers into splashing £4m. The 18-year-old has been a standout once against for the Steelmen this season amid speculation he could leave Fir Park behind in the January window.
Speaking on The Open Goal YouTube channel, Halliday said: “Lennon for me is by far and away the best young player in Scotland. Why should it need them to go and do well somewhere else before Celtic or Rangers are willing to pay £4million for him?”
Pressed on if he thought that Miller would start every week for Philippe Clement’s side ahead of the likes of Connor Barron and Mohamad Diomande, the ex-Gers star responded: “Every week, for me personally aye. It doesn’t matter who it is, he’s playing.”
One player the club are keen to offload is Ianis Hagi. Record Sport revealed that a clause in the 25-year-old’s contract would see him receive a wage rise should he play one more game for Rangers – with the midfielder currently sitting on 99 appearances.
Ciprian Marica – who is a shareholder in Farul Constanța alongside Ianis’ dad Gheorghe – claims he has spoken to the playmaker and insists that the decision to freeze out the Romania international has fallen to boss Clement. Hold told Digi Sport: “I don’t know what solutions Ianis has, which teams can still transfer him, but they definitely have to do something.
“It’s a no-win situation. He can’t be any worse affected than he is now. He has already been staying for 3-4 months, if he stays for another two months it is not the end of the country, but in the winter he has to find a team urgently.
“From what I understand, it was one hundred percent the coach’s decision. You can’t throw away a promising player, a national team player. To lose a player you paid some money for just because the coach has a problem. It seems to me that the club is not strong enough, they don’t want to take it on and everyone gives up on the coach. Back to Ianis, surely he must find a solution.”
And after a successful start to the Europa League against Malmo, Rangers fans are dreaming of a a deep run in the competition. Going into the clash with the Light Blues, Lyon boss Pierre Sage has admitted he could have two different teams for their league campaign.
Lyon got off to a fine start themselves with a 2-0 win against Olympiakos and meet Toulouse on Saturday as they resume their Ligue 1 campaign. And Sage insisted he could easily pick two different squads for their domestic and European matches.
He said: “We have already used 24 players so far this season, which proves that we have rotated a lot. We have a good crop of young players and I felt it was important to involve them. So the Europa League will create opportunities for me to use them, although I will not rotate for the sake of rotating. The idea is not to satisfy everyone but to win matches. If we can satisfy the players and win matches, all the better.
“I am lucky that I have a big squad to make the options for both European matches and Ligue 1 games. But I think we have played four good matches in a row and the game against Olympiakos was the first game where we got what we deserved. I believe we are going to improve even more soon.”