Rangers ‘chase former Arsenal star’ as Michael Beale eyes winger in cut-price transfer
RANGERS boss Michael Beale is reportedly preparing a summer swoop for one of his former players.
The Light Blues gaffer is narrowing down his list of targets ahead of the upcoming transfer window and it’s claimed he has identified the winger as a potential signing.
SunSport already told you that Beale is on the brink of landing ex-England and Man Utd loan goalkeeper Jack Butland.
The English market is one he knows very well, having coached down south for years and due to his brief stint as QPR boss.
And it’s his former club that he could be snatching from in the coming weeks with the Daily Record reporting that Chris Willock is on his radar after working with him at Loftus Road.
The former Arsenal and England youth star is out of contract at the end of the season, so Rangers can land him for a cut-price fee.
The London club have the option to trigger a 12-month extension but the forward has reportedly made it clear that he wants to reunite with his former manager in Glasgow.
Beale reportedly returned to his old club just last week on a scouting mission to watch a 1-1 draw with Norwich and it was suggested that he was eyeing one of Todd Cantwell’s ex team-mates, Kieran Dowell.
Willock was on the bench for that match but it’s reported that he’s one of Beale’s priority targets ahead of a major squad rebuild in the summer.
The manager has been adamant that he will continue to meet with potential signings face-to-face and could have caught up with the 25-year-old during his visit.
Willock was tipped for big things as a youngster when he was coming through the ranks at the Emirates.
He left Arsenal in 2017 for Benfica but failed to make a breakthrough in Portugal so he returned to England two years later on loan deals with West Brom and Huddersfield.
Former Rangers boss Mark Warburton then splashed out around £750,000 to bring Willock to Loftus Road in 2020.
But now he could leave for Ibrox three years later.
And it’s suggested that he’s keen to reunite with former Arsenal coach Neil Banfield – who is now a key man in Beale’s backroom team at Auchenhowie.
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