Southampton vs Manchester United saw one notable occurrence for Rangers fans – an outing for Steve Davis.
The former Gers midfielder has been hotly-tipped for an Ibrox return in January. The player himself wants it, and many fans of the club are also desperate to see him return.
The club had also been helped by the fact that Davis had only featured in one of Southampton’s 13 Premier League matches this season. Six of them saw him as not even part of the match-day squad.
Yet, for the first time in three months, Davis made a top-league appearance against Manchester United. The good news for Rangers fans? It was only for a minute as the Saints tried to kill some time.
If this is a deal that’s to truly go ahead, Rangers need Southampton to not favour the Northern Irishman. If he’s still part of Mark Hughes’ plans at St Mary’s, it’ll be a much harder deal to get done. In fact, it could make it nearly impossible.
Still down the pecking order
Thankfully for Gers, however, it seems as though he’s still way down the Saints’ pecking order. He did feature in all three EFL Cup matches for Saints, but only one of those games saw him start the contest. That means that overall he’s started just one of Southampton’s 17 games in total this season.
Rangers can take solace from the fact that Davis only has six months on his St Mary’s deal. He signed a new deal back in 2016 that ties him to the English Premier League until next summer. This could make Southampton play ball in January, considering they could just see him leave for nothing in the off-season and sign a pre-contract.
Davis himself has stated in the past that he wants to go back to Ibrox. Rangers aren’t particularly light in midfield, but they could still do with someone of Davis’ caliber in there.
He’s had five appearances for Northern Ireland this season, and notched a goal against Israel back in September. In truth, however, it’s been a woefully quiet season for the former Gers star.
His appearance against Man Utd was surprising, even if it was only for a minute or so. Don’t be surprised if Rangers make their move next month.
