Rangers are already planning on life without Ryan Kent as the Ibrox club reportedly sends representatives to Greece to watch Super League side Aris Salonika starring Honduran international left winger/attacker Luis Palma, 23.
The 6-cap winger, who got his European break from South American football only last year when he exited Honduran side SV Vida for Aris in a modest £225K deal, is having a strong campaign in the Mediterranean, with 12 goals and 6 assists in 39 appearances, including 7 goals in 20 in the league.
The move is being seen as a Kent replacement, with Michael Beale’s recent admission that the club and the English winger are not yet on the same page following discussions, which hints more than likely that the ex-Liverpool man is planning to execute his free agency and move on to a new club in the summer, with Burnley, Leeds and one or two others said to be monitoring him.
As for Palma, he plays the same position Beale has been putting Kent in, the left winger-cum central playmaker striker, and when wide left the Honduran doesn’t score and assist too many, but centrally scores quite a few for Aris.
Palma doesn’t exactly have a sensational CV but there is some potential, and an attacker who is thriving in a league featuring Greek giants like Panathinaikos, Olympiakos and AEK Athens clearly has a bit of something about him.
Beale had a sensational start to his Rangers transfers when he snapped up Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin, so while we might not fully trust his word, his judgement in players seems more than up to scratch, so if this is one he truly wants we might be interested in it.
Palma is said to have a market fee of around £2M, with a contract running for another three years, so he’s by no means a Bosman.
But that all said, we’re not sure his resume is quite the stuff for the Celtic-killer we need to launch a serious assault on the league and Champions League next season.
Time will tell if the lad impresses our scouts tonight.