Soccer

‘Nothing to report’ – Rangers coy on James Tavernier future

The Gers captain is the subject of a bid from Turkish club Trabzonspor and sat out the friendly against Manchester United.

James Tavernier sat out Rangers’ friendly against Manchester United
James Tavernier sat out Rangers’ friendly against Manchester United (Andrew Milligan/PA)
By Anthony Brown, PA

Rangers are remaining tight-lipped on the future of James Tavernier amid intense speculation that their free-scoring captain is close to being sold to Trabzonspor.

The Turkish club had a bid rejected for the 32-year-old right-back this week but remain keen on trying to sign the Englishman, who has scored 125 goals in nine years since joining Gers from Wigan.

Tavernier was not involved in Saturday’s 2-0 friendly defeat by Manchester United in Edinburgh, although the club maintain that he is recovering from an injury that has prevented him featuring in any pre-season games so far.

Manager Philippe Clement departed immediately after the match at Murrayfield to attend a wedding reception, leaving media duties to assistant coach Alex Rae, who was unable to offer any notable update.

“There has been speculation throughout the course of Tavernier’s time here,” Rae said.

“He has been linked many times, there have been lots of rumours. We just deal with it as it happens. There is nothing to report as such.

“Listen, Tav is an integral part of what we do here and hopefully that continues.”

James Tavernier is attracting interest from Trabzonspor
James Tavernier is attracting interest from Trabzonspor (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Rae confirmed that Tavernier has been around the club as normal in recent days but, probed further on the skipper’s situation, he said: “I have no idea, I don’t even know what the bid is. That is above my pay grade.

“For me, his being at this club is vital. He has been an integral part over recent years, I think 20-odd goals last year, so we will wait and see what happens.”

Asked how Tavernier should be remembered at Ibrox if he does depart, Rae said: “I am here to talk about the game today. It is not really fair on me to say. You are talking about him as if he has left, he is still very much part of the squad.”

Dujon Sterling, right, was up against Jadon Sancho on Saturday
Dujon Sterling, right, was up against Jadon Sancho on Saturday (Andrew Milligan/PA)

In the absence of Tavernier, the versatile Dujon Sterling played at right-back against United.

“Dujon brings plenty of qualities,” said Rae. “He came up against a quality Jadon Sancho today and he coped very well, defensively and offensively.

“We want to get Dujon in the right place physically going into this season and by getting those minutes today against quality players, he will get that.”