Rangers concerned by injury woe as transfer for ex Hearts star could stop club 'playing with fire'
Rangers are seeking transfer solutions to injury issues and a former Hearts star could be one.
Derek McInnes admits Rangers are ‘playing with fire ‘as they seek to sign a former Hearts star after an injury blow.
Left-back Tuur Rommens could be out for up to eight weeks after the Belgian picked up an injury in Sunday’s 2-1 Premiership loss against Hibs. They are now seeking alternatives in that area and James Penrice could be one they move for. It’s been reported by the Rangers Review that AEK Athens would part ways with the left-back they signed from Hearts last year, however, they’d want a permanent deal rather than a loan.
Rangers meanwhile would prefer to recruit Penrice on a loan until the end of the season as Brentford’s Jayden Meghoma, who spent last term in Glasgow, is also a rumoured option. McInnes admits the club are in a testing moment after striker Youssef Chermiti was ruled out for a ‘significant’ period of time with an ACL injury.
What player do Rangers need to sign?
Manager and former Hearts boss Derek McInnes said: “Tuur has a groin strain. Him and Emmanuel Fernandez are the only two who have played for 90 minutes in both Poland and against Hibs. We were trying to freshen it up. At this stage of the season, we are susceptible to these types of things, particularly when the demand of the games comes on.
“We do not have options defensively, so Tuur has had to go again and play. It was just a very last action in the bottom-left-hand corner before the break. He has gone to injure it and the scan was not great for him. We are going to be without him for a couple of weeks, which exacerbates the situation defensively. We are really short on numbers. We need a left-sided defender and we are keen to get that resolved as quickly as possible.
“With the numbers we have got there, we are playing with fire. We are a couple of defenders being injured from the situation we are in. We have been going through it now for months, but the good thing is that we have the ability to react. Hopefully, we can react positively and quickly, because I think that is important. Obviously, with Tuur’s injury, we have been looking at various options. That is ongoing.
What type of player are Rangers pursuing?
“We have got to get into the nuts and bolts of that. We are trying to bring wingers in. It is in the hands of the recruitment team to try to get that over the line. Nothing has been finalised yet, so we are waiting for that to play out. Hopefully, we can get some good news before the close of play tonight (Wednesday). Obviously, a couple of injuries to key players have set us back, but conversations are ongoing every day. Managers are always wanting the player in now. Once you identify a player, you want to get him in the building as quickly as possible.
“It is not always as easy as that and sometimes you can miss out on certain targets. We have a clear plan, which has changed a wee bit now in terms of the Youssef injury. That is obviously something we are going to have to zone in on. We are working hard and looking at options, even after training before coming in here. It was not an area we were looking at, but defensively there has always been a bit of concern. I always felt we were short of numbers there. We have plenty of numbers in the middle but wide areas and in defence we are way short.”