Why Steven Gerrard got everything he could have wished for during the winter transfer window
Steven Gerrard has had worse Januarys. Having started the month with a 16-point lead at the top of the Premiership, his Rangers team came out of it with that advantage over Celtic stretched to 23 points. The Ibrox boss can now also reflect on a satisfying winter transfer window which closed last night with his priorities from it all achieved.
Top of Gerrard’s list was simply to keep hold of all of the key members of a first-team squad which have performed with such relentless consistency to leave Rangers on the cusp of winning a first domestic title since 2011.
With that objective secured, Gerrard has now had the added bonus of advancing the recruitment of two new players he originally anticipated would be joining up at the end of the season.
By turning the pre-contract agreements with Jack Simpson and Scott Wright into deadline-day moves from Bournemouth and Aberdeen respectively, Rangers have injected some freshness into the options available to Gerrard for the remaining four months of this campaign. As they have done since appointing Gerrard in the summer of 2018, the Rangers board of directors have backed him once again by pushing through the Simpson and Wright deals.
Central defender Simpson, 24, and versatile attacking midfielder Wright, 23, are both viewed by Gerrard and his coaching staff as players with vast potential. In the shorter term, Simpson will provide additional cover for the heart of Rangers’ back four where ever-present Connor Goldson has been partnered by either Leon Balogun or Filip Helander so far this season.
With George Edmundson’s Rangers career having stalled after his attendance at a party in breach of coronavirus protocols, which saw him and fellow culprit Jordan Jones hit with seven-match suspensions, his loan move to Derby County is covered by the arrival of Simpson.
Wright, meanwhile, will aim to prove he is an upgrade for Rangers in the wider attacking positions in comparison with either Jones, Glenn Middleton or Brandon Barker who have completed loans to Sunderland, St Johnstone and Oxford
United respectively. Gerrard spoke last week of ‘protecting the future’ of Rangers with the pre-contract deals for Wright and Simpson. While they now become part of his current squad, that advance planning will continue with a pre-contract deal for 21-year-old defensive midfielder Nnamdi Ofoborh who has returned to Wycombe Wanderers on loan from Bournemouth for the rest of this season.
The Nigerian under-20 international is then expected to join Rangers in the summer and he will arrive with a ringing endorsement from Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth.
“He’s got all the attributes to become a top-class central midfielder, and I know he can also fill in in defence,” said Ainsworth.
“We know what Nnamdi is all about and we’re really pleased
to bring him back here. There were a lot of clubs interested in signing him, but Nnamdi enjoyed his time with us last season and knows there’s a
great opportunity for him to develop his experience further by coming back and helping us over the second half of the season.”