Marc Leonard has been tipped as ready to play for Rangers

HomeTransfers Wed 1 May 2024 13:10, UK

Rangers should be looking to sign Brighton midfielder Marc Leonard after his "scary" improvement, according to loan boss Jon Brady.

The Northampton Town boss told the Daily Record (1 May) that the 22-year-old is now "beyond" the League One side, where he has spent the past two seasons, and is ready to play for either side of the Old Firm, despite interest from the English Championship.

Scotland Under-21 international Leonard has made 97 appearances in the past two seasons, helping the Cobblers to promotion from League Two last term, and Brady is convinced he will "flourish" for either Rangers or Celtic, but admits it is the Seagulls, for whom Leonard has played two senior games, hold the cards.

Brady said: "I feel for the here and now and for the longer term I would say Marc Leonard is one that both Rangers and Celtic should be looking at. I know both teams have a lot of talent in the midfield but Marc is an outstanding young Scottish player. I believe he can go all the way to the top and if Rangers or Celtic were to come in for him then I feel he has the talent to flourish for either side.

"He is beyond us now and rightly so. There is a lot of interest in him from the English Championship. "Certainly with the ability he has, for me, he has to be testing himself, at least in the Championship. He would be a huge asset to any team in that league.

"The improvement in him has been scary. He came as a very good technical player but now he has gone up so many levels. He has risen to every challenge we gave him and in the end, he was just grabbing games by the scruff of the neck and being a real difference maker. He came as a young player but has left Northampton as a man.

"The first season with us he got one or two goals and a few assists but this season he has five goals and nine assists. His key passes and progressive passing in the final third were all outstanding.

"Marc is only 22 and he played 97 games in over two seasons. This season he played every single league game. I think he only missed about 20 minutes of the season.

Join the Ibrox News WhatsApp channel to get all our exclusives and the breaking transfer news FIRST.

"To come out of academy and be so robust at his age is a huge credit to him, especially when it is every Saturday and Tuesday and it is even more brutal through the Christmas period. His experience at Northampton will land him in good stead and now he is definitely ready to go right up the levels but where he goes next is up to Marc and Brighton."

Could Rangers move for Northampton star? Philippe Clement is certainly likely to need to recruit for his midfield this summer but whether the League One ever-present is on his radar is unknown.

John Lundstram is believed to be on his way to Trabzonspor along with Borna Barisic when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Ryan Jack is also extremely unlikely to get an extension to his deal as a result of his extensive fitness issues.

In light of the endless injury problems more widely at Ibrox it would be advisable for Rangers to be looking at players with the sort of durability that Leonard has demonstrated at Northampton, where he has been available for all 92 league fixtures over the past two campaigns, remaining on the bench for just one while playing a part in 91, and starting every match this term.

John Lundstram is set to depart from the Rangers midfield. Five league goals and six goals from midfield is a solid return as well, and while supporters may be underwhelmed if the club were after a man who has been in the English third and fourth tier most recently he is technically a Premier League player, and the last loanee from Brighton, Abdallah Sima, has been excellent at Ibrox.

A permanent move for the Senegalese attacker is likely to be too expensive this summer but Clement will have a lot of business to do and midfield is bound to feature.

So if he were looking for another loan arrival from the Amex he has certainly been given a glowing endorsement from Brady who should know better than most.

In other Rangers news, Clement is now set to engineer another full-scale transfer overhaul of the Light Blues squad.