According to a Sky Sports report, both Rangers and Celtic are set to miss out on Tyrese Campbell, who has decided to stay at Stoke City.
The 20-year-old striker has been linked with both Old Firm clubs for some time and having initially refused offers of new contracts with the Potters, looked set for an imminent transfer.
However, this latest Sky Sports report asserts that despite ‘extensive talks’ with the Gers and the Hoops, he won’t be going anywhere.
In fact, ‘in the next 24 hours’, the player is expected to sign a new contract with the Championship outfit, after being convinced that he’s an integral part of manager Michael O’Neill’s plans.
Son of former Premier League marksman Kevin Campbell, the England youth international has five goals in 22 appearances this season, most recently netting a winner away at West Brom on Monday night.
UPDATE: After this article was published, Stoke City confirmed that Campbell had signed a new contract [Stokecityfc.com].
Verdict
If the report is to be believed, Rangers were genuinely keen on Campbell and had entered into serious negotiations with the player.
Consequently, this could be seen as a considerable blow, as the wait for a January signing goes on.
A silver lining, though, is that with the talented youngster remaining in England, at least the Gers haven’t lost out to their arch-rivals.
With the pursuit of Campbell on the verge of failure, time is running out if the recruitment team want to bring in a forward, with deadline day now only a week away.
If there are no arrivals, Steven Gerrard will be hoping injury problems stay at bay, with only Alfredo Morelos and Jermain Defoe to call upon for the title run-in.
