Airdrieonians manager Ian Murray has spoken out amid reported interest from Rangers and Celtic in his star player, Thomas Robert [Lanarkshire Live Sport].
The Gers were first linked with the midfielder and son of former Newcastle United star Laurent, by Chronicle Live in May.
However, in a surprise move, he left Ligue 1 Montpellier to join SPFL League One side Airdrie in July, citing opportunities for first-team football as the main reason for his decision [Airdriefc.com].
Since then, he’s made eleven appearances in all competitions, scoring three goals and registering two assists, while he scooped the division’s Player of the Month award for November.
The Scottish Sun reported over the weekend that Rangers, Celtic, Hibernian and Hearts are all tracking his progress and Murray has appeared to back up the story.
“When was the last time Airdrie had a player linked to the Old Firm and it’s on the back page of a national newspaper?” he said [Lanarkshire Live Sport]. “It’s not very often and there is some legs in the story.”
“There’s been a lot of teams requesting to come to our games in the last three to four weeks, but with the Covid restrictions in place, they all can’t get in, believe it or not. We’ve had to turn away many, many requests for Thomas.”
Rangers would only usually send representatives to League One matches to watch young Academy players turning out for their loan clubs, while key scouts are elsewhere in Europe looking to unearth the next Borna Barisic.
However, Robert received a strong footballing education in France and has impressed since his arrival in Scotland.
The level of the Gers’ interest remains to be seen but Murray’s comments suggest they have at least put some feelers out ahead of the January window.
Ross Wilson is working hard to improve the Rangers’ transfer operations and he was praised by a senior Ibrox figure during Tuesday’s AGM.
