Sport
A new name appears on the Rangers transfer list as a Premier League loanee
Perhaps the most bizarre and tedious saga of this transfer window has been Rangers daily speculation involving left-backs with a new name in Luke Thomas emerging from an unlikely source.
The 22-year old England Under-21 international has been on loan with Sheffield United in the Premier League, featuring 12 times but is now back at Leicester City and has been mentioned as a possible target for Gers boss Philippe Clement.
Rangers have more pressing concerns than a new left-back even if Luke Thomas has the type of profile that makes him seem like a player who might be considered, author, and well known face around Ibrox, Jeff Holmes being the unfamiliar provider of the link.
Rangers linked with Leiceister City’s Luke Thomas
As discussed by Rangers News before, there is an issue with recruiting English players.
They are more likely to be sold at a profit if they do well given that the Premier League is on our doorstep and has the deepest pockets in world football but there is a downside too.
According to Salary Sport, Luke Thomas is currently on £20,000 per week, despite being out of contract in the summer and available for a development fee, he will want a pay rise this summer whether he moves or not.
If Rangers are going to replace two international defenders in Ridvan Yilmaz – rated at £5m by the club – and Borna Barisic, with over 30 Croatia caps, I’m not sure that Luke Thomas is the player to do it.
We have players like Kieran Dowell and Dujon Sterling – before his move into midfield – collecting big money but offering very little in return.
Of the names suggested so far, Thomas is probably the only one that you would look at and question whether or not it made sense.
As a like-for-like replacement in the summer for Barisic if he leaves at the end of his contract? Maybe.
But is Rangers defence really going to be strengthened by a player like Luke Thomas who has been deemed not good enough by a Championship side?
Nils Koppen has a clean slate, the last thing he should do is repeat the mistakes of the past.
