Rangers: Ball backs Everton’s Patterson interest | OneFootball

Michael Ball has offered his thoughts on the prospect of Premier League side Everton signing Nathan Patterson from Rangers.

What’s the talk?

Michael Ball, who played for both Everton and Rangers, has backed the Toffees to take Nathan Patterson away from Ibrox, hailing their reported pursuit of the defender as clever.

He told Transfer Tavern:

“I think it’s good that Everton are looking north of the border and trying to be clever.

“We all like big signings, we all like the big name players but moving forward, it’s a mixture of trying to bring in players from the academy, a bit of youth from elsewhere, who can compete in every position, as well as your bigger signings and Nathan is really highly thought of at Rangers.”

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Fans would hate it

Ross Wilson must avoid a Rangers blunder with Patterson in the January transfer window. Fans would hate it if the club decided to cash in on one of the promising young players in the squad midway through the campaign, as it could mean that there is no succession plan for captain James Tavernier.

The ex-Newcastle man turns 30 in October and Patterson, 19, could be his long-term replacement at right-back if all goes well. Patterson averaged a solid SofaScore rating of 6.86 in seven Premiership appearances last term, whilst also managing a score of 6.85 in four Europa League games.

This shows that he is already capable of stepping up into the first-team and providing a reliable outlet down the right. At his young age, he also has plenty of time to continue his development and become a player who could thrive as a regular starter at Ibrox.

The club’s head of academy Craig Mulholland once lauded the defender as a fantastic player, saying: “Nathan has been fantastic for us this year.

“Again, we started the project five, six, years ago to get a level of player that we felt could go and compete in the Europa League, could go and compete in Old Firm games.

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“And if you go and look at Nathan in the last 16 of the Europa League, if you look at him in the Old Firm game, it’s a great example for all the young players in here of what we’re trying to achieve.”

This highlights how highly the £4.9k-per-week gem is rated by the club behind the scenes, which is why keeping him should be a priority for Wilson. It would be a disaster to lose such a promising talent, one who could be the heir to Tavernier’s throne and that is why fans will hate it if they accept any offers from Everton, or any other club, in the January window.

AND in other news, Forget Aribo: Rangers beast with 93 touches stole the show for Gerrard’s side…