As per one of the latest reports by The Scottish Sun, Rangers are keen to lure James Collins to the Ibrox Stadium this summer. Rangers’ new boss, Steven Gerrard, started to track Collins after admitting defeat in his attempt to sign Martin Skrtel. Gerrard, who has already signed Allan McGregor, Jamie Murphy and Scott Arfield, is adamant to beef up the quality of his back line and his apparent interest to sign Collins makes a lot of sense.
The 34-year-old emerged through the youth ranks of Cardiff City and then went on to represent the senior side of the Bluebirds for a considerable period of time. In the summer transfer window of 2005, he joined West Ham United and after four seasons with the Hammers, he made a move to the Villa Park to join Aston Villa.
But he re-joined West Ham United in the summer of 2012. His contract with the Irons was due to expire on June 30th and the London based club have released the centre-back. Across two spells spanning ten seasons in Claret and Blue, Collins carved 214 appearances to his name and has accumulated a tremendous amount of experience under his belt.
Celtic, during the recently concluded campaign, engineered their domestic dominance once again. Under the tutelage of Brendan Rodgers, the Celts secured the domestic treble and there is no denying that the Gers have miles to run before they can catch their arch rivals. Rangers struggled to find momentum last season and Gerrard needs to make some bold decisions during the summer transfer window to shape the club for better.
It will be crucial to bag players with pedigree as they will be able to bring some freshness to the club and at the same time, their experience will come in handy. Collins might not have had a brilliant 2017-18 campaign but there is no doubt regarding his quality. In 13 appearances in the Premier League, he scored a goal and made 1.2 tackles, 1.2 interceptions, 9.1 clearances and 0.8 blocks per game on an average.
The former Wales international is good in the air and owing to his exceptional ability to read the game, he makes shrewd tackles and interceptions on a regular basis. Although his age might be a cause of concern, as he is set to be 35 in August, he will not be a bad idea for the Light Blues to meet their central defensive needs for a season or two.
Statistics Credits: WhoScored