Glasgow Rangers forward Scott Wright is being targeted by Steven Gerrard after the former Gers boss was appointed manager of Al Ettifaq, according to reports.
When did Scott Wright join Rangers?
The Light Blues’ right-sided winger first arrived at Ibrox from Aberdeen back in February 2021 and he’s since gone on to make a total of 84 appearances to date, but last season, he fell significantly out of favour under both Giovanni Van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale.
In the Scottish Premiership, the 25-year-old was handed just five starts so he clearly isn’t displaying enough quality on the training ground to force his way into the manager’s first-team plans, therefore making his future beyond the ongoing window extremely uncertain.
Since leaving Glasgow, Gerrard has been out of work following his departure from Aston Villa after admitting that he turned down a job offer from an unnamed club in the Middle East, but having recently been set on as the new boss of Saudi Pro League side Al Ettifaq, he’s eyeing a reunion with some of his former stars.
Reliable journalist Graeme Bailey has already revealed that the Scouser is targeting a swoop for captain James Tavernier, though it appears he’s not the only one that he wants to try and prise away from the outfit north of the border in the weeks ahead.
Is Wright leaving Rangers?
According to Football Insider, Al Ettifaq have already "made a concrete move" for Wright ahead of the 2023/24 campaign. Gerrard is "keen" to re-sign his ex-dynamo, who is reportedly "seeking more regular game time" after falling down the pecking order.
The Rangers attacker is represented by the same company as Jota from Old Firm rivals Celtic who recently secured his move to Al Ittihad, and it's stated that they are also "working on finding a solution" for the player in question who could be following in his footsteps.
Should Beale keep or sell Wright?
Rangers and Beale will know that they didn’t give Wright enough regular opportunities to show what he was capable of last season, but equally, he failed to prove them wrong when he was handed the rare opportunity to showcase his talents, so the hierarchy should cash in and sanction the winger’s sale this summer.
The Champions League participant, who pockets £5.6k-per-week, during the previous term ranked as the manager’s 33rd best-performing offensive player out of 34 squad members, averaging just 0.5 shots per game, ranking 28th overall, via WhoScored, which is nowhere near good enough for an attack-minded player.
The Scotsman also managed to record just one league assist throughout the whole of the previous campaign, with this lack of goal threat or prolific form seeing him slammed as a player who “needs to do more” by BBC pundit Alan Hutton.
Should Rangers lose Tavernier to Gerrard and Al Ettifaq, it would most certainly be a huge blow for the Teddy Bears to be without their skipper, but the same can't be said for Wright, so the board should do everything within their powers to try and keep hold of the former and green-light the exit of the latter.