Ejaria hopes Rangers move can boost Liverpool career
● Attacking midfielder follows Gerrard to Ibrox by signing season-long loan deal
Ovie Ejaria believes his loan move to Rangers under Steven Gerrard will enhance his ultimate ambition to become a first team regular for Liverpool.
The 20-year-old attacking midfielder yesterday tied up both his short and longer term future when he signed a new extended contract with the Anfield club and also agreed to join Rangers on a seasonlong loan.
Subject to international clearance being secured, Ejaria becomes the first of Rangers’ summer signings wholly instigated by new manager Gerrard. Fellow recruits Scott Arfield, Allan Mcgregor and Jamie Murphy were all in the pipeline before Gerrard’s appointment.
Ejaria, who was part of the England squad which won the Fifa under-20 World Cup last year, has made eight first team appearances for Liverpool so far, all of them in the 2016-17 season.
The London-born youngster, who began his career at Arsenal’s academy before moving to Liverpool in 2014, is highly regarded by Anfield manager Jurgen Klopp, who was keen to secure him on a new contract before sanctioning another loan move.
Ejaria spent the second half of last season on loan at Sunderland, scoring once in 11 appearances as they were relegated from the English Championship.
He is hoping for a more fulfilling experience over the next 12 months with Rangers as he looks to progress his development further under Gerrard, the former Liverpool captain and youth coach.
“I’m just going to keep working hard and see where that takes me,” said Ejaria. “I really want to be a regular at Liverpool, a massive club, so that’s my aim.
“It’s a really great feeling [to sign the new contract]. I’ve been at Liverpool for four years now and I’m just really happy to extend my stay here. It’s a massive club, the club’s doing really well at the moment, so it wasn’t a hard decision at all.”
Rangers are now closing in on their fifth signing of the Gerrard era with their pursuit of Brighton central defender Connor Goldson approaching a conclusion.
A fee in excess of £3 million has been agreed between the clubs for the 25-year-old former Shrewsbury Town player who found first team opportunities limited in the Premier League last season due to the form of Brighton’s first choice central defensive pairing of Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy.
Goldson is understood to be enthused by the prospect of working under Gerrard and Rangers are hopeful personal terms can be agreed with the player within the next few days.
Gerrard will meet his full first team squad for the first time when they resume preseason training at the end of next week and the former England captain has now confirmed the full composition of his backroom staff at Rangers.
As previously indicated, former Scotland and Liverpool skipper Gary Mcallister becomes assistant manager. Three other former Liverpool employees are following Gerrard to Glasgow – Michael Beale has been named first team coach, Tom Culshaw is technical coach and Jordan Milsom becomes head of performance.
Colin Stewart, son of the former Rangers and Scotland goalkeeper Jim, remains on the staff as first team goalkeeping coach, a role he filled last season after stepping up from the academy following the dismissal of Pedro Caixinha as manager.
“I’ m just going to keep working hard and see where that takes me. I really want to be a regular at Liverpool”
Rangers midfielder Carlos Pena has been forced to join another Mexican club on loan after Cruz Azul cancelled his year-long switch from Ibrox six months early.
Necaxa have now taken over the remainder of the 28-yearold’s loan period after his former Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha axed him following his troubled stay with Cruz Azul.
Pena’s latest switch comes amid reports that he had been forced to check himself into a rehab facility run by former boxer Julio Cesar Chavez in order to combat his problems with alcohol. The player vowed this week he would return better than ever after he was reported to have attended a clinic in the Mexican state of Sinaloa in a bid to recover from his addiction.
Pena was expected to be in the clinic for at least a month, however Liga MX side Necaxa have taken over the remaining six months of his loan contract.
The Aguascalientes outfit will be in the bottom half of the table for Mexico’s second part of the season following their mid-season split.
Pena was dismissed by Cruz Azul following a variety of offthe-field mishaps and allegations of drunken behaviour at a team hotel. He took action himself to check into the addiction clinic.
He stressed: “I want to come out of this and be the best midfielder in Mexico again.
“I left home when I was 13 to fulfil my dream of being a footballer and I’ve won titles and played in the World Cup. Now I want to get back to those days.”
The Mexican international will stay with Necaxa until January and could return to Ibrox after that in theory because he would still have 18 months left of his contract.
Necaxa confirmed the move ontheirtwitteraccount,posting: “Welcome, @G27gullit To defend these colours.”
0 Carlos Pena’s latest switch comes amid reports he had checked himself into a rehab facility.
Cruz Azul also Tweeted: “Thanks for your service, @ G27gullit! We wish you the best, Much success!”
Mario Hernandez Lash, Necaxa’s sports director, has vowed to help Pena fight his demons and rediscover his best form.
He told the mediotiempo.com website: “We all deserve a second chance. He became the most sought-after player in Mexican football a few years ago and I do not think he has forgotten to play football. You just have to guide him.”
Pena was Caixinha’s marquee signing for Rangers last summer but his £2.2 million move turned out to be a costly mistake as he struggled to adapt to life in Scotland.
He managed five goals in 14 outings for the Ibrox outfit but failed to impress with his general displays and was sent back to his homeland in January as he hooked up with Caxinha once more at Cruz Azul.
The Portuguese boss was hoping to help Pena rejuvenate his career having taken over at the Mexico City outfit following his Rangers sacking.
But the midfielder again struggled on the pitch as he failed to net in his ten appearances.
“I want to come out of this and be the best midfielder in Mexico again. I’ve won titles and played in the World Cup.nowiwanttoget back to those days”
CARLOS PENA