Rangers return for Ross McCormack would show last resort after transfer failures

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Rangers are continuing to look to strengthen their front line and provide alternatives to reduce the dependence upon Alfredo Morelos, despite his prolific start to the campaign, and the latest name to be linked with a move to Ibrox is Ross McCormack.

TeamTalk say that the Scottish side have shown an interest after Aston Villa made it clear that they would be prepared to pay all of his £40,000 per week wages, which could mean he would be a bargain acquisition.

The 32-year-old played 10 games and scored two goals during a stint at the club as a youngster in 2005/06 before departing for Motherwell, where his impressive form earned him a move south of the border.

However, since moving to Aston Villa for £12 million, his career has gone downhill. A fall-out with Steve Bruce meant that his career at Villa Park has been all but written off.

“It’s been a disaster. There’s no two ways about it. I scored four goals and played something like 25 games. If you look at the five years before that I was averaging over 50 games a season and probably over 20 goals. I think most players have a dip in their careers, hopefully that was mine.”

McCormack is clearly keen to put his Aston Villa nightmare behind him.

Rangers have had a bid turned down for Hearts forward Kyle Lafferty, according to STV, and a reported interest in McCormack may represent a shift in attention to a player who is unlikely to be first choice in Steven Gerrard’s wishlist.

McCormack may have scored 14 goals in 17 games for Melbourne City, but he has not played regularly in Britain since 2016 and, at 32-years-old, is not a long-term solution. Such short-termism is something that Gerrard has been keen to avoid with his other signings.

Financially, the deal may make sense with such low costs, but it is hard to see that Gerrard would welcome a player on the decline with reported attitude problems and fitness issues having spent his summer hiring young and exciting talents with a point to prove.