Jerry Yates has opened the door on a Rangers move after speaking positively of the club’s interest in him, but has equally insisted he’s happy at Blackpool and doesn’t seek a move.
The 26-year old has some decent form in the Championship down south this season but is generally an extremely underwhelming link indeed and not one we’re terribly excited about, but nevertheless he’s suggested the interest from Rangers is ‘nice’.
He does go onto say he’s contracted for several more years and is happy in Blackpool, but acknowledging the interest positively did suggest his ears are pricked to a potential offer should Rangers go further with initial monitoring and offer something.
Yates’ Blackpool, a bit like fellow Rangers link Ben Jackson’s Huddersfield are rooted to the bottom of the Championship table, with both clubs strong favourites for relegation at this point, so it’s a bit predicable and disappointing that Rangers would be interested in players at such bottom-feeding teams, with all due respect.
But the interest is apparently there, mainly because he’s joint-top scorer in the division with 9 despite his club’s lowly plight, and it does make his performance stand out.
If he’s able to score freely for a side rock bottom of the table, he’s clearly able to feed off scraps, which is exactly what Rangers’ board is likely to look for at the moment.
How much is he? He’s valued at the £3M-£5M range so he would far from come cheap, but Rangers have recent history for spending big money on surprise players who don’t necessarily seem to merit such outlay, so this would be nothing new, but equally, nothing surprises us with the club these days.
Would he be seen as an Alfredo replacement? The Colombian seems destined to leave, so possibly, but his repertoire, Yates’ that is, doesn’t sound like the ex-HJK man, with a lack of physical presence and not being great in the air.
He’s much better for passing and playmaking, which is completely not Morelos, but we do lack that up top with our strikers as it is.
So there you have it, another day, another link. But this time he’s not saying no….