Rangers: Steven Gerrard admits squad is ‘light’ after transfers
The former Liverpool and England captain is in his first senior job in management and has made 12 signings thus far, the latest seeing Kyle Lafferty return to the club from Hearts yesterday for an undisclosed fee.
And despite recruiting two centre-backs already in Connor Goldson and Nikola Katic at a combined cost of £5million, Gerrard wants to add extra depth at the back.
He revealed this week: “I would like to get another body in that position. That will give me the luxury to change formation maybe or pull one of those two [Goldson and Katic] out to help them in terms of giving them a breather.”
And Nottingham Forest youngster Worrall is the man he has identified to conclude his transfer activity, according to the Daily Record.
Steven Gerrard wants to sign Nottingham Forest youngster Joe Worrall (Image: GETTY)
Joe Worrall is no longer a regular starter at Forest (Image: GETTY)
Worrall captained England’s under-21s to a Toulon Tournament success last year but despite his promise has dropped down the pecking order under Aitor Karanka.
The Spanish boss has signed Tobias Figueiredo, Michael Dawson and Michael Hefele in Worrall’s position over the summer after Worrall had made 31 league appearances last year.
The 21-year-old has attracted interest from Championship clubs Aston Villa, West Brom and Stoke City.
Burnley were even linked with a £10million move for the defender back in January after he impressed in an FA Cup third-round win over Arsenal the same month.
Steven Gerrard has made 12 signings so far with Kyle Lafferty the latest (Image: GETTY)
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Joe Worrall is an England under-21 international (Image: GETTY)
But it is believed that Rangers have made the first move in order to try and wrap up their 13th addition of the summer.
In addition to Goldson, Katic and Lafferty, Gerrard has also completed permanent deals for Scott Arfield, Borna Barisic, Jamie Murphy, Jon Flanagan and Allan McGregor.
The Glasgow heavyweights have also brought in Sadiq Umar, Lassana Coulibaly and Liverpool duo Ovie Ejaria and Ryan Kent on loan deals.
But Gerrard was dealt the blow yesterday that he will be without Scotland international Murphy for the rest of the campaign after he suffered knee ligament damage in their Scottish League Cup win over Kilmarnock last weekend.
Joe Worrall tussles with Chelsea's Eden Hazard in the Carabao Cup last year (Image: GETTY)
Gerrard wants more signings despite his mass overhaul so far (Image: GETTY)
The Ibrox boss admitted: "He is a huge player for us. I’m bitterly disappointed over it. He will be missing for the remainder of the season.”
Gerrard has yet to suffer defeat since taking over with the Light Blues winning five and drawing four of their nine games in all competitions under him.
Rangers face FC Ufa in the first leg of their Europa League play-off clash, with the Gers into the group stages if they overcome their Russian opponents.
Gerrard is also without injured loanee Coulibaly while Jordan Rossiter, Graham Dorrans and Lee Wallace are sidelined with knocks. Summer signing Barisic is ineligible having played for NK Osijek against Rangers earlier in qualifying.