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Football Insider have reported on Thursday that Aston Villa are set to ramp up their interest in Rangers captain James Tavernier.
The outlet reckon that now promotion to the English Premier League has been achieved, the Villans are ready to make an approach for the right-back, having kept tabs on his progress at Ibrox.
Tavernier has become almost indispensable at the club and selling him remains a bad idea from Rangers’ perspective, but manager Steven Gerrard admitted recently that ‘every player has his price’ when discussing potential interest in the 27-year-old.
It means that decision makers at Ibrox may receive an offer too good to turn down and the Gers boss must have one eye on what his team might look like in Tavernier’s absence.
Is anyone at the club capable of stepping up and filling his boots?
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On the chalkboard
The most obvious candidate to replace Tavernier in the event of his departure is January signing Matt Polster, who arrived from MLS outfit Chicago Fire.
To date he’s only managed three minutes of action in a Rangers shirt, but does have decent experience and was signed specifically as back-up for Tavernier, despite the presence of Jon Flanagan at the club already.
The fact he has played plenty of games in midfield as well as right-back for Chicago Fire is evidence he is very comfortable on the ball and can perhaps be that driving right flank force that Tavernier has been at Ibrox for years now.
His lack of action at the club to date is a little bit of a concern for Rangers supporters, but that’s as much to do with making the transition from life in America to life in Scotland.
What’s Gerrard said?
Intriguingly Gerrard seems to be a big fan of the defender, despite his lack of playing time, and has hinted he could play a big role in the team in the months to come.
As quoted by The Evening Express, the Gers boss said in April:
It is a big, big change for him so we had to get him used to the dressing room, get him used to Rangers and the pressure of Rangers.
He has settled down really well, has performed really well in the reserve team and the idea was always to get him in before the end of the season and then get a strong pre-season into him to get him ready for next year.
He is a good player – I think he might surprise a few.
Coupled with his comments on Tavernier’s potential departure earlier this week, is the Rangers manager already eyeing Polster to fit in and make Rangers fans forget all about their captain?
If the right-back does move on, Polster could have a massive opportunity to cement himself in the team and build a successful Rangers career.