Liverpool make Owen Beck transfer decision in Rangers and Celtic race to sign former Dundee loanee
Rangers and Celtic have been “thwarted” in their attempts to sign Liverpool’s Owen Beck as the left-back is set to be given game time at Anfield, according to The Times.
Paul Joyce reported via the paper’s website on 3 January that the Light Blues were hoping to land the 21-year-old on loan with a view to making him an immediate starter at Ibrox, after he was recalled from an “eye-catching” loan at Dundee.
Celtic were reportedly ready to sign him on a permanent basis, but neither side of the Old Firm are due to be successful in their pursuit as Jurgen Klopp is expected to use him due to the injury absences of Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas.
Rangers have also been linked to Josh Doig at Verona [Daily Record, 1 January], with Ridvan Yilmaz’s future in doubt as the Italian side are interested in the Turkish international [Gianluca Di Marzio, 2 January].
Beck has made two senior Liverpool appearances so far but impressed with two goals and two assists from 17 SPFL appearances this season at Dens Park.
Missed out
It is clearly going to be a disappointment at Ibrox if a player they hoped to install straight into Philippe Clement’s starting XI is off limits.
While it would be all the more frustrating if he had instead headed to Parkhead it will nonetheless throw a spanner into the works of the club’s plans at the position.
Yilmaz has performed strongly of late in the latest suggestion that he might actually be the long-term successor to Borna Barisic he was supposed to be when he arrived two summers’ ago.
But in a year and a half at the club there have been false dawns previously only for form or fitness issues to see him lose his place again.
Having been routinely linked with a move away, most often back to the Turkish Super Lig, it may be that he is the primary candidate for Rangers to cash in on this month in order to fund other business.
Were it possible to land Beck on a low-cost loan that plan would have been all the more viable, an especially attractive for a talented youngster from a Premier League giant who has already gained top flight experience in Scotland.
Clement has already confirmed that he expects to be “very active” assessing targets over the winter break, so it looks like an alternative left-back option will need to be one of them.
In other Rangers news, according to Sky Sports an attacker could be set to leave the club amid an “urgency” to complete another incoming signing.