James Tavernier told by ex-teammate he’s leaving Rangers for Aston Villa with Steven Gerrard
Ex-Newcastle striker Nile Ranger has suggested that James Tavernier will be following Steven Gerrard in leaving Rangers for Aston Villa.
On Thursday, it was confirmed that Gerrard has replaced Dean Smith in charge at the struggling Premier League.
Gers captain Tavernier thanked Gerrard and his coaching team in a touching Instagram post later in the day.
Ranger, who was teammates with Tavernier during their time at Newcastle, seems to feel the right-back may be on his way to Villa Park with Gerrard.
“He’s taking you with him,” Ranger said in the replies to Tavernier’s Instagram post.
Absolutely no way
Gerrard may want to look at some of his now-former players at Rangers to strengthen the squad at Aston Villa – but does he need to?
Smith has left him with a squad that has seen a lot of investment in recent years.
After selling Jack Grealish to Manchester City for £100million in the summer, Smith was able to bring in Emiliano Buendia, Danny Ings and Leon Bailey to add to the squad.
Would any of the Rangers attackers get into that forward force at Villa Park? We do not think they will.
Tavernier is a great attack-minded right-back but he has massively defensive frailties that get found out by some of the worst teams up here in the Scottish Premiership.
Imagine the destruction that left-wingers like Grealish, Sadio Mane and Heung-min Son would cause when they come up against Tavernier.
Yes, he is great at taking set-pieces and is superb at getting forward and getting crosses over into the box.
But he is not a Premier League-level defender, in our opinion and we feel as though he is going to stay at Ibrox for a long time.
If Gerrard is going to sign anyone from Rangers in January, it would be someone like Glen Kamara or Nathan Patterson.
In other Rangers news, the Gers could make a new hire within days.