Stephen McGinn has slammed Rangers for their “snobbery” in ignoring players from within the Scottish Premiership while discussing the Light Blues’ interest in Lawrence Shankland.
Over the summer transfer window, the Gers looked to strengthen their forward line after losing Alfredo Morelos and opted to sign players from clubs abroad, including Cyriels Dessers from Cremonese and Danilo from Feyenoord.
While McGinn recognised that this approach can see teams sign “superstars”, he admitted that he doesn’t understand why Rangers and Old Firm rivals Celtic don’t move to sign players from within Scotland as short-term fixes.
Speaking on The Go Radio Football Show (7 December) he said: “There’s a bit of snobbery in this country. I get that when you go abroad, you can maybe get the superstars who are going to be here for four or five years.
“But if you look at their No 9s for the last few years. Kyogo was someone Ange Postecoglou knew inside out, Morelos was someone JJ knew inside out. We’ve had Klimala, Ajeti, this season Dessers, Danilo, big signings from abroad that haven’t hit it off.
“When you look at that over the years, then what’s the problem of going getting someone short term, guys who have worked for other clubs? Like Leigh Griffiths, Kris Boyd, Steven Naismith; they’ve all come from provincial clubs and done a job for Celtic and Rangers over the years.”
Get him in
Buying players from abroad is effectively a lucky dip as McGinn suggested. For every Morelos or Kyogo that comes through the door, there will be at least one Dessers or Danilo that doesn’t quite adapt as expected to the Scottish Premiership.
Rangers need to sign a new number nine in the January transfer window as they are clearly short of goals with their current forward options. While there will be a temptation to once again look for the next Morelos, the Gers should avoid the snobbery and instead move for Shankland.
The Hearts forward has been in inspired form this season, scoring six goals in 15 Scottish Premiership appearances for a team that hasn’t exactly been free-scoring. He has consistently found the net during his time in Scotland and would almost guarantee goals at Ibrox.
Philippe Clement will have his own transfer targets for the January transfer window, but if Rangers want to sort out their striker problem they shouldn’t have to look any further than Hearts’ number nine.
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