Rangers lose out in bid to sign Caleb Chukwuemeka from Northampton
Rangers have lost out to Aston Villa in the race to sign young forward Caleb Caleb Chukwuemeka from Northampton, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper claims Tottenham, Newcastle, Norwich and Club Brugge also wanted to sign the 19-year-old striker but Aston Villa have now wrapped up a deal to sign him on a three-year deal with an initial fee of £300,000 being paid to Northampton.
It is understood that Chukwuemeka had a medical with the Villans at the weekend and will hook up with his younger brother Carney in the West Midlands.
Unlucky
Rangers were always going to find it tough to sign Chukwuemeka, especially with Aston Villa interested in him.
Villa boast being a Premier League club, they aren’t too far away geographically from Northampton and also have a big lure in the fact his brother plays for the Birmingham-based outfit.
For Chukwuemeka to move from Northampton to Rangers, it would have been a big move for him personally so we’ve got no hard feelings about this one. It happens.
Chukwuemeka already has a good amount of first-team experience to his name having played 28 times for Northampton’s first-team, scoring two goals in the process.
It remains to be seen how he develops at Villa Park alongside his brother but he does seem like someone who has a decent future ahead of him.
Rangers may want to continue tracking him over the coming years to see whether a deal can be agreed with Villa.
It’s unlikely he’ll make it as a first-team regular there due to the money they spend on signing new players who are ready for their starting line-up.
It could be one to revisit next summer or the year after.
However, based on the lengthy deal and the terms of the agreement with Northampton, Villa seem to have high hopes for the 19-year-old ace.
In other Rangers news, this exit-linked Gers star has failed to read the room with a very ill-timed tweet.