When Nathan Patterson left Rangers for the dizzying heights of the Premier League with Everton, big things were expected.
The talented Scotland international right-back had made the breakthrough at Ibrox as a teenager, coming through the club’s academy and putting the pressure on club captain James Tavernier.
Part of the team who lifted 55, Nathan Patterson burst onto the scene at Rangers and made a big impression before leaving for Goodison Park.
With Rangers skipper Tavernier the club’s bonafide first-choice right-back, the Gers took the opportunity to cash in on Patterson in January 2022.
But two-and-a-half years after breaking the Rangers transfer record by signing a £16m deal (Sky Sports), serious doubts have been raised about Patterson’s future at Everton.
Nathan Patterson’s Everton future in doubt
Nathan Patterson has been the subject of a transfer discussion between leading Liverpool Echo journalists with the right-back’s Everton future still up in the air.
Patterson has suffered badly with injuries since moving to Everton whilst upheaval at Goodison Park has not helped the ex-Rangers talent’s credentials.
Murmurs of discontent between Patterson and Sean Dyche, who has repeatedly defended his position with the right-back, also persist.
Speaking on the Liverpool Echo’s Royal Blue podcast, official Everton statistician and Echo journalist Gavin Buckland has raised doubts about Patterson’s status at the Toffees despite the fact the right-back’s current contract runs to 2027.
Pointing to injuries and that frayed relationship with Sean Dyche, Buckland reckons it’s ’doubtful’ that 23-year-old Patterson has a long-term future at the Goodison Park side.
“I think it’s doubtful (Nathan Patterson has a future at Everton),” said Buckland.
“You look at players’ career trajectories who become established players.
“Patterson is not following that trajectory at all.
“He’s only made 50 league starts by the time he’s 23 and he’s been in around the first-team for three or four years.
“That for me is not the pathway of somebody who is going to be an established player given the number of injuries he’s had as well.
“Whether Dyche fancies him or not is also a moot point.
“It’s going to be difficult, I’m not saying he’s not going to, but it’s going to be difficult with that career history.”
Ex-Rangers star has ‘unfinished business’ at Ibrox
Naturally, the doubts surrounding Nathan Patterson’s future at Rangers will prick the ears of Ibrox supporters.
Rangers director of recruitment Nils Koppen has only this week claimed that the club will continue to reshape the Ibrox squad heading into next summer.
As part of that, the situation with Ibrox captain James Tavernier is a source of immense scrutiny with the marauding right-back the subject of intense criticism this season.
Now 32-years-old, Rangers must be looking beyond the long-serving defender, who is British football’s greatest ever defensive goalscorer and in his 10th season in Glasgow.
Many might point to Nathan Patterson being the perfect long-term solution with the Scotland right-back still young enough to come back and have a legendary impact at Ibrox.
Whilst Rangers recently extended the contract of Dujon Sterling, and also have form option Neraysho Kasanwirjo on their books, Patterson is a homegrown fans’ favourite who knows exactly what it means to play at Ibrox.
Nathan Patterson has also previously claimed that he has ‘unfinished business’ at Rangers and would one day love to return.
“Of course I’d love to go back to Rangers later on in my career and finish what I started,” said Patterson in December 2022.
“It would be great to finish at Ibrox. It’s where I started off my career so it would be nice to play in front of those fans again.
”There’s a bit of unfinished business for me. I was involved in 55 but I’d like to go back and get more titles.“
