Celtic hero makes cheeky plea for 'talented' Rangers player set for Scottish Premiership loan deal
The former Celtic and Hibs boss said he’d take the Rangers star at his current club.
After Rangers’ 1-0 win victory over Ludogorets Razgrad on Thursday night, Dunfermline Athletic boss Neil Lennon has expressed an interest in a Rangers winger.
In what was The Light Blues’ first win on the Europa League stage all season, Mohamed Diomande’s first half effort was enough to separate the sides, as Rangers extend their current win streak to seven consecutive games. While Danny Rohl’s men were already out of the competition, the win also means Rangers will receive £389,000 for a League Phase win, as well as some valuable coefficient points, with the hope of Champions League football still alive next season, if they win the league.
Rangers youngster Findlay Curtis already looks like he has one foot out the door at Ibrox, with a Kilmarnock loan move in the offing. However, the sought after 19-year old is also on the radar of Lennon, who half-jokingly expressed an interest in him while on TNT Sports punditry duties.
‘I’ll take him!’ - Pars boss on Curtis
When discussing a potential loan move for Curtis, the Dunfermline gaffer said: “I’ll take him! “He’s a talented player. But he’s at an age where he needs to play. He did well when he came on tonight.”
In the match itself, Curtis looked sharp in his 20 minute cameo after coming on for Youssef Chermiti. Just minutes after he was introduced, he forced a wonder save from Ludogorets stopper Hendrik Bonmann, who palmed his left footed effort wide of the post after a direct run at the Razgrad defence.
It was his willingness to run at the defence and try his luck which impressed Rangers icon Ally McCoist on co-commentary, who said he wouldn’t loan out the teenager due to ‘selfish’ reasons, although he did concede Curtis needs more game time for his own development one way or another.
Curtis set for Killie switch
As it stands, Kilmarnock are the favourites to bag a short-term deal for Curtis, who worked with current boss Neil McCann and assistant Billy Dodds last season when they were assigned to Barry Ferguson’s backroom staff. The Ayrshire side are struggling at the wrong end of the table at the moment, sitting in 11th place just three points ahead of rock-bottom Livingston.
Curtis has shown promise whenever he’s been called upon this season in a Rangers shirt and has three goals to his name already despite his limited appearances. However, with the recent loan signing of Andreas Skov Olsen, as well as Djeidi Gassama and Mikey Moore ahead of him in the selection pecking order, it’s no surprise the Gers want to offload him on a short-term basis to help him gain more experience.
The winger wouldn’t be the first player to be loaned out by Rohl, as Lyall Cameron has been offloaded to Aberdeen. The midfielder put in a Man of the Match performance against Raith Rovers in his opening match.