Michael Beale heavily involved as Rangers win race to sign Todd Cantwell from Norwich
Michael Beale was “heavily involved” in the Rangers pitch as the club overcame multiple English clubs for Todd Cantwell, according to Ben Jacobs.
The English midfielder is on his way to Ibrox to become the first signing of the January window, and the first since the Gers boss was appointed in November.
Blackburn had previously had a bid turned down for the 24-year-old, and it appears there were various other clubs in the running, but Rangers have come out on top and Beale’s role was significant.
Posting on Twitter on Thursday evening CBS journalist Jacobs wrote: “Todd Cantwell will join Rangers after a full agreement has now been reached with Norwich.
“Cantwell has already said his goodbyes at Carrow Road.
“Rangers fought off interest from several Championship clubs with Michael Beale heavily involved in Rangers’ pitch.”
New era
Since publicly discussing his admiration for Cantwell [The Scotsman, 8 January] Beale has been asked around each game about the lack of new arrivals, and has maintained his satisfaction with the situation.
Now it is clear that the Carrow Road midfielder will be the first signing of Beale’s time in charge and the manager played a big role it is easy to see why.
Extensive contact between him and the player surely increases the chances of Cantwell getting off to a good start in a Light Blues shirt as well.
He fell out of favour at the Norfolk club last season amid a relatively underwhelming loan spell at Bournemouth, and hasn’t been the same force he was when scoring six times in 37 Premier League appearances three seasons ago for a while.
But if Beale has a clear plan for him and has obviously made him feel wanted then it sounds like the ideal circumstances for the player to recapture his previous form.
He still has age on his side, and if he can return to the trajectory that he was on when the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City were considering £30million bids [The Athletic, 17 February 2020] then this deal would prove to be an excellent one.
What his arrival means for Ryan Kent remains to be seen, with his contract still set to expire in the summer.