After reported £2m Jan bid, Rangers must seal freebie deal for top-flight 6ft 2in enforcer
COMMENT
With Rangers facing a potential defensive crisis in the summer, Mark Allen must look for a veteran south of the border who is still capable of playing at the top level.
James Collins is a West Ham hero, but it is very likely that he will be on the move in the summer after 10 years of top service for the Hammers.
He wanted to end his career at West Ham but his contract is due to expire in the summer and with no discussions yet over an extension it looks like he will face the exit in the summer.
That means that there’s a top quality Premier League player up for grabs for free in the summer who gives every game his all.
Brighton were said to be readying a £2million offer for him in January but that didn’t come to anything.
However, it proves that sides think he’s still got what it takes to do a job in the English top flight.
Collins has suffered from injury this season that has limited him to 15 appearances this season, but the enforcer thinks he’s playing as good as ever, wants to carry on playing and will surely jump at the chance to become an Ibrox hero.
Collins said in an interview in January in the Standard, “It’s a situation [his contract] I would like to get sorted as soon as possible because I don’t like to go into training thinking about it all the time. As far as I’m concerned, I’m still playing as well as ever.
“I would be devastated if I had to go. I did it once before when I went to Aston Villa and it ‘killed’ me.
“If it comes to the worst, though, I’d probably have to go because, at my age, I need to play football.”
With as many as four of the current squad leaving at the end of the season – with Bruno Alves, Fabio Cardoso, Russell Martin and possibly David Bates all potentially on the way out – Ginge, as he’s known by West ham fans could be the perfect addition to the squad.
He’s got experience, passion and talent, and would be an absolute bargain and very little risk on a rolling one-year contract.
In other Rangers news, the club’s board “have been on their knees begging” 70-yr-old to take over as manager.
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