STEVEN Gerrard has expressed his desire to tie up a quartet of loan signings on permanent deals at Rangers.
The duo of Ovie Ejaria and Ryan Kent, who arrived in Glasgow from Liverpool as Gerrard made the most of his strong connections with his former club, have impressed in Govan while the Rangers manager continues to speak highly of Joe Worrall and Lassana Coulibaly.
Worrall, who is on a season-long deal from Nottingham Forest, was thrust into his debut on Thursday night as Rangers earned a spirited 2-2 draw in their opening Europa League group match with Spanish side, Villarreal.
Gerrard was effusive in his praise of Worrall in the aftermath of that battle in El Madrigal and, when pressed on the subject of his various loan Rangers, the former England captain did not hide his craving for adding all four to his squad on long-term contracts.
“We have to be respectful to their parent clubs,” said Gerrard. “The three players you've mentioned and Joe Worrall in time will be added to your list, he's already on mine. They are players we've gone for because we rate them very highly. Three of them have settled really well, Joe had a really tough debut last night but came through it very well in my opinion.
“In an ideal situation, they are all on four or five-year deals but unfortunately it doesn't work like that.”
Rangers continue to benefit from Gerrard’s legendary status at Liverpool with a profitable alliance being forged between the two clubs. After taking his first step into management at Ibrox in the summer, a unique loan system was set up with Rangers getting first refusal on emerging talent that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp wants to farm out.
Gerrard added: “I'm still in Jurgen's good books for the foreseeable future and Liverpool keep winning, so maybe there is some scope [for signing them], but we rate them very highly. If you're asking me if I'd want the four of them for next year, I'd sign for the four of them right now.”
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