Rangers especially need hungry Damian Garcia transfer after two permanent Ibrox exits confirmed

Rangers especially need hungry Damian Garcia transfer after two permanent Ibrox exits confirmed

Damian Garcia is the kind of player that every team needs, especially Rangers after losing two senior midfielders, says Derek Ferguson.

Football Scotland reported on 5 June that the Light Blues were targeting the Uruguayan midfielder as part of Philippe Clement’s transfer window.

And with the club confirming that both John Lundstram and Ryan Jack are leaving when their contracts expire, the Ibrox midfield looks thin, and Ferguson, who used to man that area himself, believes Garcia would be a fine addition in the vein of another ex-Gers player, Stuart McCall. Clement has already signed three 20-year-olds, Jefte, Clinton Nsiala, and Oscar Cortes, and Ferguson believes that recruiting young players from abroad demonstrates their hunger. He exclusively told Ibrox News: “They’d bring him in for a cause, and they’d done their homework. Philippe Clement is currently accomplishing all he says in terms of recruitment, with Koppen joining.

“They’re sourcing these young guys. They lose guys like Lundstram, like Ryan Jack, they weren’t just destroyers they could play as well of course.

“But this lad, he looks to be that type who enjoys that defensive midfield role, and I think every team needs one.
Look at the Rangers teams. Even after I departed, Stuart McCall returned to Rangers. He was ideal for that role. He disrupted play and was particularly confrontational with the opposing team’s playmakers.

“You’ll always need that type. Stuart could also play, and I am confident that this youngster can. “There’s certainly something they like about him, and I like that because, as a young 20-year-old, he’ll be eager and have a lot to show, which I believe is exactly what we need at Rangers.

“We need to get the balance right, you can’t just bring in all young players, but I just love the hunger of young players. They’re willing to go to another country to test themselves.“

Ryan Jack and John Lundstram leave Rangers as contracts expire

The news on 12 June that Garcia was set to sign a new contract at Penarol [Dario Alberti] containing a release clause worth $10million [£7.9m] undoubtedly throws a spanner into the works for Rangers.

With the amount of business Clement and Nils Koppen have at Ibrox this summer, it is unrealistic for them to pay that, even though John Bennett has stated that there is money to spend [Daily Record, 14 June], but while it prevents him from moving for a bargain-basement price with only months left on his contract, it does not completely rule out a transfer being agreed. And the Light Blues obviously need a couple of central midfield reinforcements, so if Garcia isn’t one of them, they’ll have to move on to Connor Barron and then search elsewhere.

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