Go for it Gerrard – Rangers must splash £4m or more to acquire this promising 21-year-old Swansea starlet

As per reports from the Sun, Scottish giants Rangers are interested in signing Swansea City striker Oliver McBurnie in the summer transfer window and have made an opening bid of £4million. 

The 21-year-old striker enjoyed a great spell out on loan with EFL Championship outfit Barnsley in the second half of the 2017/18 campaign, which has put him on the map and the Gers are willing to splash the cash to make him newly appointed manager Steven Gerrard’s second signing.  

McBurnie came through the academy at Bradford City and went on to make 20 appearances before moving to Swansea at the age of 19. Having moved to the Welsh outfit, the centre-forward has gone on to just make 18 first-team appearances, scoring and assisting two goals apiece. There have been loan spells away at Newport County and Bristol Rovers too.

McBurnie started the 2017/18 campaign with the Swans and went on to make 12 appearances (3 starts), managing just a solitary assist. However, he was in fine form in the Premier League 2 for the Swansea U23 side, scoring 10 times and assisting one goal in 7 appearances.

This form and a lack of first-team opportunities meant that he was taken on loan by Barnsley in the January window and the 21-year-old continued his impressive form for the Tykes in the English second division.

McBurnie finished the campaign with 9 goals in 17 Championship appearances, finishing as the second highest goalscorer for the club behind Tom Bradshaw (12 goals), despite having been with the club for only five months.  

A sharp finisher, both with his head and feet, with decent pace and strength, the two-time capped Scotland international has shown during his spell with Barnsley that he can prove to be a handful for defenders to deal with.

His intelligent movement in the final third and his ability to dribble past defenders are key aspects of his game that make him an enticing prospect.

Rangers are awfully short in numbers when it comes to the striking department. Barring Alfredo Morelos, who arrived last summer, the club cannot count on any other striker for next season, given that veteran forward Kenny Miller’s contract is set to expire in a few days’ time, while Jason Cummings’ loan spell is also drawing to an end.

Adding a forward in the summer will be of paramount importance to the Light Blues if they are to challenge bitter rivals Celtic for the top honours next season.

McBurnie, a childhood Rangers supporter, will know what it would mean to represent the club and has shown that he is more than capable of growing into a lethal striker if his spell with Barnsley is anything to go by.