Bournemouth manager Jason Tindall has provided an update on Rangers pre-contract signing Jack Simpson as the January transfer deadline nears [Scottish Sun].
The Gers officially announced Simpson’s pre-contract deal on Thursday [Rangers.co.uk], with the 24-year-old defender set to join the club in the summer.
It’s been reported that the Gers could look to speed things up by offering a fee to bring Simpson in this month [Scottish Sun], but nothing has materialised yet and Tindall has now suggested that the player could even head elsewhere on loan before the transfer window slams shut on Monday night.
“As far as I’m aware, he’s agreed a pre-contract with Rangers and that’s where it is right now,” said the Bournemouth boss [Scottish Sun]. “If someone was to come in for him from now until the end of the season, then that would be a discussion we would have to have.”
“But while he’s here, from my point of view as long as he’s fully committed to his work, fully committed to training and keeps his focus and doesn’t let that distract him, then I’ll consider him as a Bournemouth player. If that’s not the case then we’ll have to look at that in a different way.
“I’m disappointed to see Jack go because there’s been a lot of work that’s gone into him to develop him into the player that he is now.”
Tindall’s comments show that while he hasn’t been written off at the club, Bournemouth aren’t desperate to retain Simpson in the short-term now that his pre-contract deal with Rangers has been agreed.
That would suggest that they may not demand much of a fee should the Gers look to force through the move now.
However, Steven Gerrard already has Connor Goldson, Filip Helander and Leon Balogun to call upon at centre-back, with George Edmundson also still at Ibrox and Nikola Katic set to return to fitness in the not too distant future.
It would be difficult for Simpson to get game time if he did move to Ibrox before the deadline, so perhaps the best thing for him would be a loan move to a club in need of defensive reinforcements, so he can build up experience ahead of his summer switch.
Meanwhile, an exciting Ibrox prospect has received glowing praise after scoring a stunning goal for his loan club on Saturday.
