An update has emerged on Rangers defender Borna Barisic, regarding interest from an English team...

What's the talk?

According to 90min, Steven Gerrard is eyeing the Croatian international as a potential January target for his new Aston Villa side.

The report claims that the ex-Liverpool man is not afraid of raiding the Gers for some of their top players, as he believes they are good enough to play in the Premier League.

Instant stitch-up

The club are reportedly closing in on the appointment of Dutch boss Gio van Bronckhorst to replace Gerrard and Rangers chief Ross Wilson must avoid stitching him up instantly. It would be a difficult situation for the 46-year-old to deal with if one of the better players in his squad is taken away from him half-way through the campaign.

Rangers are fighting for the Scottish Premiership title and will need their top performers to be available week-in-week-out to give themselves the best chance of pipping Celtic to the crown. Therefore, selling one of them could dampen their chances and leave van Bronckhorst with a harder job than it would be otherwise.

Barisic has averaged a terrific SofaScore rating of 7.18 in the Premiership this season, providing two assists from the left-back position. This is after he averaged a score of 7.40 last term, as he produced one goal and six assists for the club.

Former Gers player Alex Rae previously hailed the Croatian's 'terrific quality' on the ball, saying:

“He performs at good level week-in, week-out and has terrific quality in the final third of the park."

Mark Wilson added: “He’s the best left-back in the country. He’s improved his defending and supplies assists and is a threat at set pieces.”

This shows that he has the ability to be a top player by Premiership standards and could be a vital cog in the machine van Bronckhorst wants to build at Ibrox.

Therefore, Wilson cannot allow him to leave in the January window as the club are in the midst of a title challenge. It could disrupt their plans and leave the Dutch coach stitched up and left scrambling to solve a problem position.

Worst comes to worst, Rangers should attempt to see out the season with Barisic in the side before allowing him to leave, should he want to, at the end of the campaign. This would then give van Bronckhorst and Wilson the entire summer to source a replacement and prepare them for the 2022/23 season.

AND in other news, Behind-the-scenes: Report delivers Rangers manager detail that'll leave fans buzzing...