Ibrox View: Report linking Nikola Katic to Rangers exit appears to be based on an inaccuracy
RANGERS OPINION
Rangers have already started plotting for next season’s Scottish Premiership title race by taking the first steps towards overhauling their first team squad.
The club announced on Tuesday that six players – including Andy Halliday, Wes Foderingham, and Jon Flanagan – will leave Glasgow at the end of their current contracts this summer.
And another talent who has been linked with a potential exit by the national media is Croatian centre-back Nikola Katic.
According to The Scottish Sun, the 23-year-old has emerged as a target for French outfit Dijon.
The report states that it is unclear whether or not Steven Gerrard would be willing to part company with a player who was only handed a new deal at Ibrox seven months ago.
But thankfully, it looks as if the manager won’t have to make that decision, because the report from the Sun appears to be based on a misunderstanding.
The Sun reference “reports in Katic’s homeland” as their source of information, with a closer examination showing those reports to have stemmed from Croatian outlet Sportsklub.
In turn, Sportsklub reference “French media reports”, but in terms of reputable sources, that’s where the trail goes cold.
In fact, the only recent mention of Katic by any kind of French football account on social media comes from a Twitter user called @Actu_Fifa_.
The account, which has only 66 followers, is dedicated to the Career Mode of an anonymous gamer on FIFA 20, and even has a bio that reads: “On this account, you can follow all my careers on FIFA 20!
“The information in this account should not be taken seriously!”
On May 17th they tweeted: “According to L’Équipe, Dijon intends to recruit Nikola Katić.”
At no point have L’Equipe made any such claim in real life.
It would appear that the tweet has somehow been picked up back in Croatia, and has snowballed its way into a bigger story over here in Scotland.
As far as we can tell, there’s absolutely no truth to it, and this just goes to show the importance of digging a little deeper, not taking everything at face value, and only trusting rumours that are properly, thoroughly sourced.
In other Rangers news, Ibrox Exclusive: Bruce backs Halliday to secure ‘decent move’ after Gers exit.