A crushing Rangers transfer claim has emerged, regarding Nathan Patterson's future at Ibrox...

What's the talk?

According to The Athletic's Jordan Campbell, the defender is closing in on an exit from the Glasgow giants to join a Premier League side.

He Tweeted: "Everton are in talks with Rangers to secure the signing of Nathan Patterson. Discussions have gone well so far and any deal will see Rangers receive a club record fee that will outstrip Alan Hutton’s move to Spurs in 2008."

Nightmare

This devastating blow comes as a nightmare for Gio van Bronckhorst in both the short and long-term. Irrespective of the money involved, this deal will cause some serious issues for Rangers that will need to be resolved before the end of the month.

By selling Patterson, Rangers have lost left-back and right-back cover as well as the long-term successor to James Tavernier. The Scotland international is a right-back by trade but recently played on the left side whilst Borna Barisic was out, due to Calvin Bassey's impressive form at centre-back meaning that he is no longer deputising when needed on the left-hand side.

This means that the Gers will be left without adequate cover in defence if they lose Barisic or Tavernier for any length of time. Fans will surely be fuming with this as it could have a serious impact on the title race or their efforts in Europe, should they fail to bring in a replacement before the end of January.

Whilst that highlights the impact this sale could have this season, the long-term problem it creates is what happens to the right-back position after Tavernier hangs up the boots. The ex-Newcastle man is now in his 30's and there is no telling when his powers will begin to wane or whether or not he may want to move back down south of the border to finish his career in his home country.

Patterson, at the age of 20, appeared primed to take over his spot at right-back, but that potential is now being washed away by this news. This means that van Bronckhorst will need to dip into the market to find Tavernier's successor, which could be helped by the record fee they are reportedly set to receive.

Therefore, this news comes as a nightmare for the Dutch head coach as it creates multiple problems in the here, now and the future.

AND in other news, Gio masterclass: Rangers must swoop for "bag of tricks" who's "impossible to handle"...