Sky Sports pundit shares Rangers transfer prediction for January amid Ryan Kent and Joe Aribo speculation
Giovanni van Bronckhorst is unlikely to make major changes to the Rangers squad in January, according to Derek McInnes.
It’ll be the first time van Bronckhorst has the chance to stamp his own mark on a squad he inherited in November and has since managed to avoid defeat while also opening up a six-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
Sky Sports pundit McInnes doesn’t seem to expect much in the way of incomings at Ibrox in next month’s transfer window as he feels the main goal for the Gers will be to keep hold of star players.
“January gives Rangers the opportunity to try and improve on that, of course, whether van Bronckhorst wants to bring people in or he sees those improvements inside the building,” McInnes told Sky Sports.
“The thing is trying to hold on to those good players like Joe Aribo and Ryan Kent.
“There’s a lot of players out of contract at Rangers come the end of the season and he may resist making too many changes.
“You have to say they’re in the driving seat. I think they’ll know there’s a challenge coming, particularly from Celtic if they strengthen in January, and they need to be ready for that.
“I think they look ready for the title challenge and I think they’ll take the confidence from winning the title last year.”
What about Patterson?
We’ve all seen the rumours – Rangers fans have had to endure speculation surrounding their best players for years.
Alfredo Morelos, Kent and Aribo are players who’ve been linked with a move south of the border – or across Europe – for some time but nothing has ever materialised.
While McInnes feels the focus will be on keeping Kent and Aribo next month – what about Nathan Patterson?
The 20-year-old right-back should have got more game-time when Steven Gerrard was in charge and the young Scotland international’s situation hasn’t improved too much since van Bronckhorst arrived.
He was strongly linked with Everton in the summer and it seems as though the Toffees may be knocking on the door again in January [The Athletic].
Patterson is a player who could be of high value and selling him wouldn’t impact van Bronckhorst’s starting line-up too much.
Kent and Aribo are almost irreplaceable and while many fans would rather see young stars like Patterson stay and realise their potential at Ibrox, cashing in on him makes way more sense than selling a regular starter.
In other Rangers news, the perfect chance may emerge for the Gers to sign this player in January after what happened this week.