Is Gerrard ready to take a gamble

Rangers have been left pondering whether to take a six- figure June gamble on Ianis Hagi, Florian Kamberi and Sheyi Ojo.

Last week it emerged UEFA are committed to completing all club competitions by June 30. In Scotland, where the season has been suspended until further notice because of the coronavirus outbreak, that would likely mean top-flight clubs having to try to cram the remaining eight league fixtures in as close as possible to the deadline. Doing so, however, would throw up a number of issues – chief among them what to do about the loan players in their squads.

While they have different endof-contract dates, all are currently tied into the league schedule and, officially, the season ends on June 9 with the 2020- 21 transfer window opening 24 hours later. In the current extraordinary circumstances, switching dates around to allow outstanding fixtures to be played would not be a problem.

But getting players to stay on under an extension would require the approval of the parent clubs and, of course, an extra month’s wages would need to be paid.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon acknowledged as much when stating that his club might need to have a conversation with Southampton about Fraser Forster and Mohamed Elyounoussi.

Forster has been a huge success since returning to the Hoops and will be a transfer target for sure while Elyounoussi, a Norwegian internationalist, has also made a significant contribution and may likewise be targetted.

Ra n g e r s’ situation is less straightforward. They like Hagi, son of Romanian star Gheorghe, who they have in from Belgian club Genk. He has made a good impact since joining on January deadline day, in a deal struck with a view to a permanent transfer with Rangers having first option to buy.