Sources: Rangers set sights on signing Thomas Robert
Rangers are closely monitoring French attacker Thomas Robert after his dazzling start in Scotland for Airdrieonians, Football Insider can reveal.
The 20-year-old attacker, who is the son of legendary former Newcastle United winger Laurent Robert, spurned summer offers from elite clubs to join the League One outfit in search of regular football.
That brave decision is starting to pay off as Robert is flouring at Airdrie, where his nine matches have already yielded three goals and two assists.
A source with knowledge of Robert's situation has told Football Insider his agent Paul Tait has been speaking to several clubs in England and Scotland about Robert’s availability ahead of January.
They include Rangers as well as clubs in the English Championship as the prospect grows that the youngster could move in the next window.
This site revealed in May that Newcastle United, Rangers and Celtic were among the clubs keeping tabs on the teenager with a view to signing him on a summer free.
But Scottish third-tier outfit Airdrie won the race for Robert in what is a major coup.
The single-minded youngsters had offers on the table from Nice and Rennes in his homeland but snubbed them for first-team football.
Thomas is Laurents middle son — the youngest of the three, Leo-Pierre, is 10 and the eldest, Mathieu, is 22 - and is a fluent English speaker.
Similar to his famous footballing father, Robert is an attacking player and is a versatile forward who can play down both flanks as well as behind the main centre-forward.
At Airdrie, he has been playing predominantly on the right side of the attack, scoring goals in each of his last three matches from that position.