A surprise story has emerged claiming Rangers are favourites to sign up former England star Jordan Henderson, with one particular bookie in Gambling.com said to have strong odds to that persuasion.

It’s a curious one; no Rangers fan would deny the boy can play a bit and there are many clubs who would want a player of the quality and experience of Henderson (and there are) , but of course the slight kicker for Rangers is his wages are said to be around £80,000 so it’s a very strange story.

Of course, Jermain Defoe’s salary at Bournemouth was also extremely prohibitive – Rangers had to take him on a unique loan of 3x6months in order to get him long term but not pay the exorbitant wage the former Tottenham Hotspur striker expected.

Indeed, his wage at Bournemouth was actually about the same as Henderson’s in Holland – £80K, and Rangers managed to get him for around £35,000, with Bournemouth sharing that wage till his contract down south was done.

Would Henderson be the same?

Possibly yes.

He joined Ajax only in January and his contract runs till 2026, which is actually longer than Defoe’s Cherries’ contract was for, and we guess if this one was in any way a goer Rangers would pay about £30,000 for his salary, Ajax would pay the rest and it would be a loan.

But do Rangers need Jordan Henderson?

At Ibrox Noise we wouldn’t say no. As we’ve been on record saying, Rangers require an alpha in midfield, someone to steer the lot, because all the players in there are frankly extremely young and not overly experienced.

A leader like Henderson would be a big help to Rangers and to the likes of Connor Barron and Nico Raskin – he has no financial market value now but is a former £30M player, so he has a CV for sure.

But it just all depends if Henderson actually does intend to leave Ajax?

Rangers did of course play them preseason so maybe a few words were exchanged at the time, who knows.

All we know is he wouldn’t be the worst addition, but only on terms good for Rangers.