Rangers have looked to the English Championship for players a fair bit over recent years.
Of the current squad Dujon Sterling, Leon Balogun, Kieran Dowell, Tom Lawrence and even James Tavernier came form there even though the captain was some years ago.
There was also Todd Cantwell who has since left the club.
It was an approach of Michael Beale’s to look towards the second tier down south and it would appear it has not completely gone away under Philippe Clement.
Rangers’ summer interest in a youngster now breaking through in the Championship has now been revealed.
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Rangers had interest in Sunderland’s Tommy Watson
Tommy Watson, an 18-year-old winger, scored his first senior goals at the weekend as his double earned Sunderland a 2-1 win over Stoke.
Prior to this season, he had only had two first-team appearances with one coming last season and the other in the 2022/23 campaign.
But Watson has been more involved this season with a series of brief cameos before being handed his first start against Preston in November.
He has since been in the Sunderland XI to face Millwall, West Brom, Sheffield United and Stoke.
The latter was where his big impact came, firing in an early equaliser before pouncing again to smash home a winner on the 86th minute.
The Daily Mirror are now reporting that Rangers were interested in the summer along with Nottingham Forest.
Whether or not that Ibrox interest is still there remains to be seen but it may now be trickier with Watson making waves in the first team.
Sunderland boss on breakthrough star Watson
Sunderland boss Regis le Bris has revealed he had chats with Watson amid interest in him.
He said: “We had many conversations.
“The identity of the club and the squad is designed so he would get opportunities. We don’t have a big squad with many experienced players, so especially in this league with 46 games and with many options to play, I knew before he’d have opportunities.
“You have to deserve these opportunities but the squad is designed for that. It [his talent] was very clear [from day one]. He’s very powerful. He likes playing one v one, he can lose a duel but the next one he will try again.
“With his muscular qualities, he can repeat high intensity sprinting and he’s very good in that part of the game.
“Players always need time to adapt, so far Tommy has developed very fast.
“We need that kind of profile. I like it. When you have a winger with the ability to run inside and outside and cross, it’s a gift for a coach and a team.
“Now he will face the difficulties every player has to face such as consistency and needing to defend as well. There are many things to develop but it was an interesting game for him.
“Young players can surprise us. Sometimes you can have more experienced players but very fragile and other times you have young players who are robust and can play many games in a row. We’ll see. He’s getting stronger and he recovers quickly.
“It’s good to see new players in these conditions. We have to see their qualities and support them. We believe in their ability but when things get difficult we’ll be behind them.”
