Rangers Opinion: Gers should cash in on Eros Grezda
According to the Daily Record, Rangers flop Eros Grezda is close to sealing an exit from Ibrox, with the report claiming that the Albanian international is on the verge of completing a £1.75 million move to newly-promoted Ligue 1 side Brest.
Brest, who secured promotion to Ligue 1 after finishing runners-up to Metz, have managed to beat off competition from fellow French outfit Dijon in the race to sign Grezda, as per the report from the Daily Record.
The same report suggests that Gers manager Steven Gerrard has made it clear to Grezda that he doesn’t feature in his plans for the upcoming season, having struggled to acclimatise to the Scottish game over the curse of the past 12 months.
The 24-year-old winger, who made his move to Rangers from Croatian top-flight side NK Osijek for a fee of £2 million last summer, failed to get to grips with Gerrard’s philosophy and found himself frozen out of the club’s first-team scheme of things.
Grezda made 13 appearances in the Scottish Premiership the last term and 17 in all competitions, scoring twice and assisting once, figures which clearly suggest that the 24-year-old was on the periphery of the first-team ay Ibrox last season.
The winger spent his youth career at a number of clubs in different countries, including Prishtina in Kosova, Rabotnicki in Macedonia, Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, Grazer AK in Austria and Aluminij in Slovenia, making the step to the senior level with the latter.
Following a successful spell in Slovenia with Aluminij and Zavrc, Grezda earned a move to Croatian heavyweights Lokomotiva Zagreb in 2015.
The Albanian international scored 15 goals in 72 appearances for Lokomotiva and had a short stint at Osijek before Rangers came calling to snap him up as a part of their raid on the Croatian market, which also coincided with deals for Nikola Katic and Borna Barisic.
Well, Grezda came through the door at Ibrox with a lot of expectations but he failed to transform his promise into something more meaningful in his debut season in Scotland.
Now, as it seems, Gerrard has seen enough of the 24-year-old to deem him surplus to requirements at the club and Grezda isn’t going to get a second chance to prove his credentials in Scotland, with the Albanian closing in on a move to France.
To put things into perspective, the fans would hardly rue the departure of Eros Grezda this summer if the winger’s exit is confirmed over the next few days, given that he was hardly involved in Rangers’ first-team the last term.
The 24-year-old is not really a popular figure among the fans and the Gers are probably doing the sensible thing by moving him on.
Steven Gerrard’s shrewd approach in the market has seen the Gers complete as many as eight signings this summer without spending a lot of money, with most of the arrivals being free transfers or loan deals.
Looking at those new signings, Rangers have already brought in the likes of Jake Hastie, Jordan Jones and Sheyi Ojo to strengthen their options in the wide areas, meaning that the departure of Grezda is unlikely to hurt them.
Hence, one would expect the 24-year-old to follow the likes of Daniel Candeias, Kyle Lafferty, Gareth McAuley, Lee Wallace and Lee Hodgson out of the club this summer, with a medical at Ligue 1 side Brest set to be arranged over the next couple of days.
Looking at things from Rangers’ perspective, it is a good chance for the Gers to recoup a lion share of the money that they had spent to sign him last summer and moving him on certainly makes sense following a poor debut season.
Conclusion
Grezda is likely to face even more competition for places next term and the sooner he leaves the club, the better it is for him, given that Gerrard doesn’t have him in his plans.
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He is at a stage in his career where he would ideally want to start each and every game and a move to France might give him the opportunity to hit greater heights in the future.
This is a deal that suits all parties perfectly well, and with that in mind, Rangers should not hesitate to get rid of the £2 million flop this summer.