Rangers: Spezia eyeing Katic | OneFootball

An update has emerged on Rangers centre-back Nikola Katic, regarding Spezia’s interest in his services.

What’s the talk?

According to Croatian News, as relayed by Glasgow Live, Serie A side Spezia are showing an interest in taking Rangers centre-back Nikola Katic on a season-long loan.

The defender has been out for a year with a cruciate ligament injury and Spezia are hoping that they will be able to swoop in to secure a deal for his services upon his recovery.

Should Katic leave on loan?

Yes

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No

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Time to go

It’s time for Katic to leave… for now. Rangers must ruthlessly axe him from the squad and send him out on loan to Spezia for a year to aid his rehabilitation.

The Croatian played zero minutes throughout the 2020/21 campaign because of his knee injury and it will be a tough ask to break back into Steven Gerrard’s side in the coming weeks/months.

Leon Balogun, Filip Helander and Connor Goldson all averaged superb WhoScored ratings of 7.06 or higher in the Scottish Premiership last season. Goldson managed a particularly impressive score of 7.38 across 33 starts and this highlights the level of competition in the centre-back position within Rangers’ squad, which is why Katic needs to leave on loan.

12 months in Italy playing regular football at the top level could allow him to get back in shape and return to form after such a long period without competitive minutes under his belt.

He could then return to Ibrox next summer and be ready to attack the Scottish Premiership and win his place back in the side, which he is capable of doing given the manager’s previous praise of his work.

Back in 2019, Gerrard lauded the defender and labelled him as a winner and a warrior at the back for Rangers. He said:

“The kid is a winner and a warrior. We know what he gives. Anyone his age, after giving the penalty away, might have gone into their shell. It might have affected their performance.

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“But if you knock Niko Katic down, he’s gonna get back up and come again. That’s the man, that’s the player.”

This is why sending the £9k-per-week beast is the right call for Rangers to make. They must axe him from the team and give him a season to go away and prove that he is over his injury issues and that he can return next year and make a real impact in Scotland.

AND in other news, “It’s a huge opportunity” – Exclusive: Ball urges Rangers to strike deal to sign 11-assist star…