Following approaches by Rangers, Nnamdi Ofoborh and Jack Simpson were left out of the Bournemouth squad for an FA Cup Fourth Round tie against Crawley Town on Tuesday night but ex-Ibrox linked Jack Wilshere impressed in the game.
Bournemouth boss Jason Tindall confirmed earlier this week that Steven Gerrard had contacted him regarding 21-year-old midfielder Ofoborh and 24-year-old defender Simpson [Bournemouth Echo], both of whom are out of contract in the summer and free to speak to other clubs.
He suggested that he hadn’t given up hope of holding onto the duo, but it seems that he could now be unwilling to field them until their futures have been resolved.
That’s because, despite Simpson featuring 12 times this season making the bench for a recent Championship fixture against Luton Town and Ofoborh being named amongst the subs against Derby last week, neither player made the matchday squad against Crawley.
The active Rangers targets may have missed out, but there was a first start for formerly Ibrox-linked midfielder Jack Wilshere, who signed a short-term deal with the Cherries earlier in the month.
29-year-old Wilshere grabbed his opportunity, too, scoring a fine opening goal in the 2-1 win and earning praise from his new manager.
“Jack took his goal extremely well,” said Tindall after the game [BBC Sport]. “It was a really good performance.”
“As we know with Jack, he is a quality player, he always wants the ball and I was very pleased with his performance. The minutes will do him good and it was a step forward for him.”
Rangers have already secured the pre-contract signing of Aberdeen’s Scott Wright and former Gers director of football Gordon Smith has told Rangers News why the attacker may well end up moving to Ibrox before the end of the current window.