Kilmarnock’s Jordan Jones has always loosely been on Rangers’ radar, but now is the time to swoop in.
January will see Rangers look for two midfielders, but Steven Gerrard could do a lot worse than boost his talent down the left. Jones, given his improvement over the last two years, would certainly do that.
The Kilmarnock winger has made 95 appearances for the club, and we’ve all now seen plenty of him. He is one of the most creative talents in Scottish football, and at just 24-years of age, he’s always improving.
Rangers of course had a bid rejected for the Northern Irishman back in January worth around £350k. Kilmarnock deemed that as an insult, and they were quite right to knock it back given how valuable he is.
Many of his critics state that Jones isn’t up against much in Ayrshire. He doesn’t have that pressure to perform on a weekly-basis against high-quality opposition. Whilst this is partly true, however, his international performances beg to differ.
Now an international star
Indeed, the left-winger has now made three appearances for the Northern Ireland top team. Against both Switzerland and the Republic of Ireland in particular, he looked like their best threat down the left. His directness and ability to drive everyone forward in his side is a constant threat for opposition sides.
Rangers will point to the fact they have Ryan Kent and Glenn Middleton down the left to operate in. Whilst that’s true, the former will be heading back to Liverpool in the summer. This would leave only Middleton and long-term injury-stricken Jamie Murphy to battle it out down the left.
There’s no guarantee that Murphy will come back and make the same impact he did at the start of his time at Rangers. The winger damaged his ACL, and is likely to be out for the season.
Therefore, Rangers could do a lot worse than swoop in on highly-rated Jones. The winger’s contract is up at the end of the season, and Rangers could tempt Killie once more with the bid they were so insulted by last time.
The Ayrshire side have tried to persuade the Northern Irish star to sign a new contract, but it’s been rejected. If Rangers want to make their move, now is the time to snap him up.
