Rangers and Celtic interest in rival lands direct address as pair told ace is bound for Premier League
Rangers and Celtic are believed to be interested in a star thriving at Premiership level.
Dundee head coach Steven Pressley has backed a Rangers and Celtic transfer target as having all the tools to reach the Premier League.
Both sides of the Old Firm have been linked with a move for Luke Graham, a central defender who has thrived during this term under the ex-Light Blues and Hoops stopper. Dundee booted out offers for Graham in January amid Portsmouth interest but the enquiries aren’t set to stop this summer.
Pressley was left surprised that Rangers and Celtic didn’t go after his top asset in January, with the Ibrox side bringing in Lyall Cameron from Tayside in the summer, while Luke McCowan moved to Parkhead from Dundee. He believes there’s Premier League potential in Graham who has handled speculation admirably.
Luke Graham to Rangers and Celtic directly addressed
Pressley said: “The only thing that surprised me was that neither Celtic or Rangers looked to be pursuing him in January. He's maybe a couple of steps away, but I believe that Luke's a Premier League player. News of them being interested doesn't surprise me at all.
"Normally young players can be affected by this situation, but Luke's performances have improved during what has been quite an uncertain period for him which says a lot about him. We haven't spoken much about it. I've tried to keep things as normal as possible, not too many distractions, just let him get on with it. He's been a credit to himself.
"There was a genuine feeling around the group that when we all went into an analysis meeting the day after the window closed and Luke was sitting there, everybody was pleased to see him. That's the respect he's got from his fellow players. For someone so young, we were all pleased that he was still in the building. That tells a lot of the story.
Who do Rangers and Celtic play next?
"We understand that there comes a point in a young player's career where he wants to step on. We get that, but at the same time, the club have given him a great platform and education.
"All we want is for Dundee to be rewarded in the right manner. And then, the next part for us is that we have to become better at future planning and finding the next Luke. That's either within the club where we've got a ready-made replacement and we sell him at the right time, or we have one ready to come in. That's where we have to improve so there's not such a void when we lose good players."
Next up for Rangers is an away clash in the Premiership against Livingston before a double-header in the league and Scottish Cup versus the Hoops. Celtic are entering a packed fixture schedule, facing Stuttgart in the first leg of their Europa League knockout round play-off on Thursday, before taking on Hibs this Sunday. They have the second leg of that before facing Rangers at Ibrox in the league and travel to Aberdeen before the cup game in Govan.