Rangers target Auston Trusty could be playing Premier League football in 2023/24 with Sheffield United reportedly closing in on a potential £5 million deal for the Arsenal defender.
If you were to bestow a grade upon Rangers’ summer window so far, a ‘B-plus’ would probably be a fair score.
Mick Beale and co have, after all, succeeded in bringing in a high-quality replacement for Allan McGregor between the sticks. They have two potential 20-goal-a-season strikers through the door in Danilo and Cyriel Dessers. Abdallah Sima could be a match-winning addition in the attack. Dujon Sterling, Sam Lammers and Kieran Dowell, meanwhile, add serious depth to the spine of Beale’s team.
But if that B-plus is to become an ‘A’, another left-sided centre-half is required.
Rangers still want another defender
While John Souttar and the returning Leon Balogun can both play in the role – Ben Davies is also expected to stay – reports suggesting that Rangers remain hopeful of bringing in Jonathan Panzo from Nottingham Forest certainly indicates that Beale’s summer business is not done yet.
Panzo, Football Scotland report, is likely to cost around £2.5 million.
That is a fraction of the fee Sheffield United could end up paying for another left-sided centre-half who reportedly forced his way onto Beale’s wishlist. Talks regarding a move to Ibrox for the talented America international have stalled however, according to the Daily Mail, and that may have something to do with Arsenal’s rather eye-watering demands.
Trusty, the Sheffield Star now report, is likely to be on his way to newly-promoted Sheffield United instead. For a cool £5 million, no less. That is twice as much as Panzo would cost. And a fee likely to be beyond Rangers’ reach after Beale stumped up a similar sum to bring in striker Danilo from Feyenoord last week.
Trusty, according claims coming out of Yorkshire, is now ‘poised’ to join Sheffield United. The Blades may now have around £20 million burning a hole in their back pocket following Iliman Ndiaye’s move to Marseille.
‘We’ve got good players’
Beale, meanwhile, is preaching patience with Rangers new faces. It will take time, he says, before a new crop of players adapt to life in the Glasgow goldfish bowl.
“Is it going to be perfect straight away? No,” Beale tells Football Scotland following that 2-2 Hoffenheim draw. You can see there’s going to be some teething problems. But we’ve got good players. And as long as they all get in line and in tune quickly, we’ll be okay.
“The league’s not going to be over after match one. We’ll play each game that’s in front of us. This is a new team. It’s what we wanted, it’s what the fans wanted. There’s a lot of excitement.
“Now we need to support it, fuel it. We need to get it fit and strong and together. The fans need to get behind us. We’ll take a game at a time and see where it takes us.”
