Rangers vs Celtic is a rivalry that really doesn’t need any additional talking points.
But it may be about to get one; the Scottish Sun reporting that Mick Beale’s side are closing in on a deal that would see Crystal Palace’s Manchester United loanee Jack Butland move north of the border to Ibrox when his Selhurst Park contract expires at the start of the summer.
30-year-old Butland, the report adds, is ‘on the brink’ of joining Beale’s Rangers revolution ahead of a hectic summer of incomings and outgoings.
Two years after Old Firm rivals Celtic snapped up an experienced Premier League shot-stopper with a draw full of England caps, their neighbours from across the Glasgow divide may be about to do something similar.
What’s more, the mutual admiration between Joe Hart and Jack Butland – formerly his main rival for a starting spot at international level – promises to make for a rather intriguing battle as two old team-mates prepare to go head-to-head on either side of the city.
Jack Butland vs Joe Hart
“Jack Butland has been fantastic,” Hart once said of a man six years his junior. “He is a young guy who has played a lot of games, he has captained the (England) U21s.
“Nothing has surprised me about the progress he has made.”
Butland, meanwhile, went as far as to call Hart a ‘hero’. The goalkeeper he took inspiration from during their time together at Birmingham City.
“When I was coming through at Birmingham, as a goalkeeper, as a person, I admired him,” Butland would later tell The Independent.
“I wanted to be where he was. As we’ve got older, I’ve seen and learned more from Joe than I ever could have (dreamed of).”
An Old Firm derby is no place for friendship, however. It can be less a football match and more a war, and there will be no mercy in either net if Hart and Butland find themselves competing for Scotland’s biggest prizes over the next few seasons.
