Rangers would like to sign Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Dion Sanderson but can expect summer competition from Birmingham city.
Gers fans would be forgiven for cringing at the mere sound of the name John Eustace.
Fans will remember Mark Warburton trying to sign Eustace in 2015, when the veteran midfielder joined Rangers before one play.
That situation seemed to go on and on, becoming quite the curious case at Ibrox before he retired through injury.
Now Birmingham city manager, Eustace could be involved in yet another Rangers transfer saga.
The Scottish Sun reported in January that Rangers had identified Sanderson as a potential target.
The Wolves defender is currently on loan at Birmingham and Eustace has shared his stance on Sanderson’s future.
Speaking to the Birmingham Mail, Eustace has praised Sanderson as “fantastic” and a “true leader”.
Eustace admitted that Birmingham will try to keep Sanderson at the end of the season, which means they may be involved in a fight with Rangers.
“Dion has been a fantastic player for us this season,” Eustace said. “He is a true leader, to see his development last season from when he was at QPR to now is fantastic. He knew he had that in his locker, so we brought him in at the start of the season.
“He is a player we want to keep and losing him now until the end of the season is a huge blow for us. However, he is now giving someone else the opportunity to step up and lead by example. I’m pretty sure he’ll be out for much of the rest of the season. I absolutely want the club to consider signing him. He is injured, but he is a young player who has had a fantastic season so far. I think he has shown his worth, the fans love him very much, like everyone here at the football club”, he added.
Dion Sanderson can provide great versatility for the Rangers
Sanderson, 23, has risen through the ranks at Wolves but has yet to make a single league appearance for the club.
Loans to Cardiff City, Sunderland, Birmingham City (twice) and Queens Park Rangers have brought him no closer to first-team action at Molineux.
By the middle of next season, Sanderson will be 24 years old and should think about settling down.
The Rangers could offer that to Sanderson, and his versatility is sure to appeal to Michael Beale.
Sanderson can play right back or center back in a four-man defence, while he looks perfect as a right back in a three-man defence.
Since Ben Davies would be perfect on the left of a three, Sanderson would give Beale some tactical flexibility.
While he may not be the swashbuckling attacking threat that James Tavernier is, Sanderson is more than comfortable in that area and can offer real coverage for the Rangers captain.
A deal for Sanderson won’t come cheap, but if it’s Rangers or Birmingham, he’d probably prefer to join Beale and company at Ibrox.
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