GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - JULY 18: A general view during the pre-season friendly match between Rangers and Newcastle at Ibrox Stadium on July 18, 2023 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
According to The Secret Scout, Rangers have discussed acquiring Middlesbrough star Ajay Matthews this summer.
The trustworthy news source claims, in a post on their official X account on June 24, that the 18-year-old is scheduled to depart Riverside Stadium and has had discussions with several teams, including Celtic and Newcastle.
Premier League clubs Southampton, Brighton and Brentford are also said to had discussions with the striker, who scored 17 goals in 18 starts for the Teeside youth team in the 2023/24 season and all clubs are “hopeful” of signing him.
Rangers want to sign Ajay Matthews from Middlesbrough
It’s never an easy deal to do when several Premier League clubs are also interested, but Rangers have a good record of getting deals done.
The likes of Zak Lovelace have joined in the past from English clubs, and the youth project at Ibrox has always been impressive with the likes of Adam Devine, Alex Lowry, Leon King and Ross McCausland making the step up to the first-team in recent times.
Now the club are making their first-team incomings more linked towards young players with a potential future value too, and that means that academy talents are likely to have a pathway to make it into Philippe Clement’s plans too if they are successful.
Being able to beat the likes of Celtic and Newcastle to a young talent who is clearly highly in-demand would be a huge coup for the Light Blues.
It would also show that losing Zeb Jacobs this summer [1908, 25 April] isn’t the huge blow that many people felt it could be, and as they look for replacements they can still get the top talents in through the door.
