Rangers have dodged a bullet with Nottingham Forest’s charge for Joe Rothwell
Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been casting his bet far and wide already this summer to try and bolster the Rangers squad for the 2022-23 season.
The boss already has John Souttar arriving from Hearts on a pre-contract agreement to help solidify the defence but he will need more than just him if he wants to challenge Celtic and regain the Gers’ Scottish Premiership title.
One player who was linked with a move to Ibrox was Blackburn Rovers midfielder Joe Rothwell who is out of contract at Ewood Park at the end of this month but that move now looks unlikely.
According to TEAMtalk, Premier League newcomers Nottingham Forest are set to hijack the Light Blues’ interest in the Englishman, who came through Manchester United’s academy, and make him one of their first additions of their top-flight return.
The 27-year-old would have added some good depth to van Bronckhorst’s engine room alongside John Lundstram, Joe Aribo, Scott Arfield, Steven Davis and Ryan Jack but they now need to turn their focus elsewhere as he nears a switch to the City Ground.
And this is actually very good news for the Gers because they can now stop wasting time trying to get players they don’t need and focus on the real problem areas.
Left-back is a particular problem area for Rangers as we have seen in both of the previous Old Firm derbies against Celtic with Borna Barisic being embarrassingly caught out at the back post by the on-rushing Hoops winger.
We could do with some more depth up front as well with Alfredo Morelos’ future uncertain and a new goalkeeper wouldn’t go a miss to help out the 40-year-old Allan McGregor.
In other Rangers news, van Bronckhorst should look to sell Morelos as he could help the club gain a massive seven-figure windfall similar to what their arch-rivals could be about to receive.