Ross Wilson must act accordingly after Glasgow Rangers were dealt a potentially huge blow in their pursuit of Thomas Robert during the January transfer window.

What's the word?

According to The Daily Record, Airdrie manager Ian Murray is "confident" that the club will keep hold of the Frenchman in the January transfer window, and at least until the end of the season.

Rangers have been monitoring the progress of Airdrie youngster Robert, the son of former Newcastle United star Laurent, as he has enjoyed a breakthrough campaign with Murray's side, having struck four goals in 13 games this season.

The French teenager was a surprise arrival at the Excelsior Stadium in the summer after he rejected a new four-year contract at his former club Montpellier to sign a deal with the League One Diamonds instead.

Wilson must act now

Missing out Robert would be a devastating blow for Steven Gerrard, who is in dire need of strengthening his wide options in the winter transfer market as he bids to stop Celtic from winning an unprecedented ten titles in a row.

Both Ianis Hagi and Ryan Kent have mostly picked up where they left off last season having scored ten goals between them at the time of writing, but Brandon Barker and Jordan Jones face uncertain futures at Ibrox, as they have yet to feature for the first team since the turn of the year.

Only Hagi, Kent and Kemar Roofe have reached double digits in terms of goal contributions in all competitions this term, while Barker and Jones have fallen even further down the pecking order after the emergence of Hagi.

Airdrie boss Murray recently heaped praise on his young charge, saying: “He showed his class again against Clyde with the corner kick, but it wasn’t just that, in the first half he was excellent, his touches on the ball, his movement, his timing in the releasing of the ball, the way he picked up space, was excellent."

Following Murray's more recent comments, Wilson simply must make Robert an offer he cannot refuse. Signing a player of his obvious potential for a snip of the price he may otherwise have paid would be a shrewd bit of business.

Failure is not an option as it could force Gerrard to look elsewhere for other short-term solutions to solve his lack of depth on the wings. Otherwise, he may have to resort to bringing Barker and Jones back into the fold, which would be most unwise.

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