Ibrox View: Sheffield United ace would be clever addition to Rangers midfield
Rangers have been linked with signing Sheffield United midfielder John Lundstram this summer with The Athletic reporting that the Glasgow giants are monitoring his situation at Bramall Lane.
Lundstram, 26, is in the final year of his contract with the Premier League club and it is understood that the Blades have made him available so they do not lose him on a free transfer at the end of next season.
As well as Rangers, West Ham and Burnley are also said to be keen on the former Everton midfielder – who we believe would be a clever addition to Steven Gerrard’s options this summer if he can strike a deal with Chris Wilder.
Lundstram surprised a lot of people last season as he played a key role in Sheffield United’s impressive ninth-placed finish in the Premier League.
The Liverpool-born ace, who rocked the Fantasy Premier League world, made 34 Premier League appearances, scoring five goals and supplying three assists in the process.
However Lundstram did start to slowly lose his place in the Sheffield United starting line-up at the back end of last season – he started all of the Blades’ first 19 league matches but started just eight of the next 19.
Sander Berge’s arrival in January played a big role in that change by Wilder but that doesn’t mean Lundstram’s performances should be overlooked by a Rangers side who could do with an extra body in the centre of the midfield.
Steve Davis is 35-years-old now while Scott Arfield is also on the wrong side of 30. Then there are Ryan Jack, Joe Aribo and the defensive-minded Glenn Kamara, but Lundstram’s displays last season were hardly defensive.
As shown by WyScout, Lundstram’s heatmap in the 2019/20 Premier League shows just how advanced a role he played in Wilder’s midfield.
Stats show that the former Oxford United player completed 66.9 per cent of his passes into the final third, made 0.75 progressive runs per 90 minutes of league football, completed 54.2 per cent of dribbles and also recovered possession 5.27 times per match.
Lundstram has all the abilities needed for a box-to-box midfielder.
He drives teams forward with his passing and tireless running while also managing to chip in defensively by winning possession in advanced areas of the pitch.
The above image shows the six recoveries that Lundstram completed against West Ham in January, with four of them being in the Hammers’ half of the pitch.
Rangers would be lucky to sign a player who impressed in the Premier League as much as Lundstram did last season.
He’s also not someone who’s at the wrong end of his career with him approaching his peak at the age of 26.
Sheffield United seem as though they are willing to sell the midfielder and for those reasons, we think that Lundstram could be an affordable, yet brilliant addition to Gerrard’s side this summer.
In other Rangers news, George Edmundson deserves more of chance to develop with the club.