Jack Hendry And Jamie Walker In, Niko Kranjcar Out – Rangers’ January Transfer Hopes Explored

Jack Hendry And Jamie Walker In, Niko Kranjcar Out – Rangers’ January Transfer Hopes Explored

Given the club’s slow start in Europe under Pedro Caixinha and featuring a host of new players; some of whom couldn’t speak English, to improving and then imploding and finally facing criticism for remaining without a permanent manager for too long, it’s hard to believe Rangers find themselves just 5 points behind Celtic.

True, the hot favourites have a game in hand and are still very likely to go on and win this division. However, after a quick league double over Aberdeen and an away win at Hibernian, the Light Blues are in a much stronger position than most people would have expected them to be in, even without all the upheaval, though the loss against St. Johnstone would have come as a huge blow to their confidence.

The gap between themselves and Celtic is still massive in reality, though it does make you wonder what they could achieve with a strong January transfer window.

Celtic will have Europa League action to contend with at least for a while, and Rangers will have to back themselves to take points from the remaining Old Firm matches to at least put some pressure on Brendan Rodgers and his team. To do this, they will need to reshape their squad to suit, with both incomings and outgoings expected over the next six weeks or so.

Freeing up some money to use on what is frankly an underfunded wage bill could be crucial. So yet another window looms, with us talking about Rangers getting rid of Niko Kranjcar.

The Croatian’s contract ends next June and so it’s hoped that he may be motivated enough to get himself a move away from the club to ensure he has a contract going beyond next summer; something which could be vital for Rangers in providing them with the means to bring in new people.

Hearts’ Jamie Walker is a long-term target and is a player who wanted to make the move in the summer. Walker playing on the left could be ideal for the club, while Josh Windass can cope equally well in that position or up front.

A move for Dundee’s Jack Hendry has been mooted too, which would be terrific for the club’s future, though competition is likely to be provided by Celtic, Palace, Newcastle and others. That said, his manager will certainly encourage him to go to Ibrox and so a deal could be on the cards.

Those two transfers would give Rangers another attacking option and the best young defender in this league. So Hendry and Walker coming in and Niko Kranjcar going out would look absolutely ideal to me.