According to Wigan Today, Glasgow Rangers have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of bringing Kyle Joseph to Ibrox after Wigan Athletic administrator Paul Stanley insisted nothing would change before deadline day.
What’s the word?
Steven Gerrard’s side have enjoyed a superb Scottish Premiership season thus far as they find themselves far ahead of Celtic in the title race.
Reports have emerged over the past few weeks that Rangers are interested in signing the 19-year-old, who has made 14 League One appearances with five goals and one assist to show for his 12 starts.
Gers chiefs believed Wigan would panic as the deadline drew ever closer and would be forced into accepting a cut-price bid.
But the League One strugglers are refusing to budge, which is precisely why Ross Wilson must renew their efforts to sign the highly-rated teenager before the transfer window closes this week.
Wilson must act now
After former Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor suggested that Rangers could be forced to sell Alfredo Morelos after his reckless behaviour in recent weeks, Joseph – who has been tipped for greatness by Leam Richardson – could be just the man to complete Gerrard’s dream attack for years to come with an eye on the future.
Whilst Cedric Itten is also predominantly right-footed and plays upfront, the Scotland U19 international offers far more of a threat in attack, as he has shown his all-round game is solid and he can create chances for his teammates whilst scoring himself. As per WhoScored, he currently averages more shots (2.1) per game and is caught offside on fewer occasions than Itten.
Former Rangers youth academy graduate Kal Naismith recently heaped praise on his young strike partner following his return from injury.
“I really enjoyed it up there with young Kyle Joseph,” said Naismith. “He’ll be a top player, a really, really good player and he works his nuts off not just in the games but all week in training as well, he has a great appetite for the game and a great attitude – I enjoy playing with him, he did a lot of work for me in what was my first game back after not having a lot of training.”
Ianis Hagi, on the other hand, has managed the same amount of shots (2.1) and more key passes (1.2) in the Scottish Premiership, picking up a whopping nine assists so far, via WhoScored.
Signing Joseph could turn out to be a shrewd investment for the future, as having the two of them in the same team and starting alongside each other could cause havoc for any opposition, with Ryan Kent lining up on the opposite flank.
AND in other news, the stats that show why Rangers signed Jack Simpson…
