Rangers backed to sign Ryan Porteous as Watford exit news emerges
Ryan Porteous is a player Rangers will be looking at in the transfer market with defender on the fringes at Watford, Craig Moore has said.
Speaking on the GoRadio Football Show (8 January), Moore argued that if Porteous is to leave Vicarage Road this month, he'd be well suited to a Premiership return after starting his career with Hibernian.
Porteous seems to be on his way out of Watford [HullLive, 8 January], but with Sheffield United and Hull City both keen, the Bears face a fight to sign a player described as "phenomenal" by former team-mate Darren McGregor [Edinburgh Evening News, December 2018].
In quotes reported by the Daily Record (9 January), Moore said: "He knows the domestic game inside out. If he is not playing at Watford – those type of players are certainly one to consider for me.
"If they are not getting game time down south. Not a bad option at all. We know he would be absolutely fine up here.
“He’s not going to run into anything that he isn’t aware of. He’s seen it and experienced it. He will be one of a few options I am pretty sure Rangers will be looking at.”
Rangers can bolster backline with Ryan Porteous transfer
With three sizeable clubs after him, Porteous appears to have his pick of the bunch when it comes to his next move, but all three will have different pros and cons for the 25-year-old this month.
Sheffield United may be injury-hit at the moment – not dissimilar to the Light Blues – but given they're beign heavily backed to win promotion, Porteous may not find himself in the team for very long.
At the other end of the Championship table, Hull face a relegation battle, and while Porteous would likely get ample game-time as a result, he may not want to risk the prospect of dropping down to the third tier.
A move to Ibrox, however, could provide the best of both worlds for the twelve-capped Scotland man, with the Gers in desperate need of central defensive reinforcements this month amid a spate of injuries.
Once John Souttar is back from his own lay-off, it'll be him and one of Robin Propper, Leon Balogun or Porteous in the backline, providing plenty of competition and potentially lengthy spells on the bench.
However, given Balogun is both 36 and out of contract and Propper has never really convinced in a Light Blue jersey, Ibrox could be the perfect setting for Porteous to rediscover his "phenomenal" potential.
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