STEVEN Gerrard is casting his eye over two American trialists at the Hummel Training Centre this week with a view to strengthening his Rangers squad further.
Matt Polster, a central midfielder who is out of contract with MLS franchise Chicago Fire, and Andrew Gutman, a left back who is considered one of the best players in the US college game, are both training with the Ibrox club.
Gerrard, whose team moved to the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership for the second time this month with a 1-0 win over Hamilton at home on Sunday, is keen to increase his options before the second half of the season gets underway.
The former LA Galaxy player knows Polster, the 25-year-old who spent six months out with a knee injury this year after winning his first cap for his national team against Bosnia in January, from his time in America.
Indiana University left back Gutman, 22, was named the National Player of the Year by the Top Drawer Soccer website this season after a string of standout performances for the “Hoosiers”.
“We have a couple of trialists from the US who are looking for the next challenge in their career,” said Gerrard. “We were asked if we want to have a look at them, so it made sense.
“I know one of them from my time in the MLS – Matt Polster, who played for Chicago Fire and who I know is a good player. Andrew Gutman is one from the college system and is very highly thought of.
“So we’re going to have a look at the two of them for seven or eight days. We’ll see how they do. If we like them, we’ll try and do it as soon as possible.”
Gerrard released Umar Sadiq, the Roma loanee who failed to score in four first team appearances, last week while Ovie Ejaria has returned to his parent club Liverpool after failing to settle in Glasgow.
Asked if the departure of Ejaria and Sadiq mean he will be able to bring in more players than he had initially anticipated in January, Gerrard said: “Have you read my emails to the chairman? It makes us a little bit lighter, two bodies down, so possibly.”
However, Dominic Solanke, the England Under-21 striker who has not played for Liverpool in the 2018/19 campaign, looks unlikely to be joining the Anfield legend at Ibrox. “There’s nothing really to say about it,” he said.
Gerrard, though, is confident Rangers will be able to do more business with Premier League leaders Liverpool in future despite Ejaria cutting his loan spell short.
Asked what effect that had had on relations with his former club, he said: “None at all. Liverpool thanked us for giving Ovie an opportunity. We gave him the platform to play football – 25 games, 11 in Europe. He wore the No.10 for Rangers in front of 51,000. That’s an incredible opportunity for a young kid who is frustrated not getting game time at Liverpool.
“Liverpool were very respectful and thankful to us for that opportunity and the feeling’s mutual, because they gave us the opportunity to play him in all these games. There was no fall-out. It’s completely as it was before we got the two players in.
“It might be a mix (of loans and permanent deals). I don’t know right now. In an ideal situation they come for longer than a loan. That’s always the priority – can we find players who are going to come here for a long time?”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel