New manager Russell Martin may have only been at Ibrox a matter of weeks but he will certainly be thrown in at the deep end right at the very start of his Rangers tenure.
On Wednesday lunchtime, Martin’s first competitive opponents of the new season were confirmed, Rangers drawn against Panathinaikos in the Champions League second qualifying round, the pair set to meet at Ibrox on 22/23 July, with the return leg a week later.
Should they progress, the Gers face another qualifying tie before entering the league phase of the competition.
Rangers looking to bolster their back line
Thus, with that huge tie, and others to follow, under five weeks away, Martin will want to get some signings through the door and soon, so could Rangers be about to land an experienced Premier League defender?
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According to a report by Sky Sports News, Rangers ‘have approached’ Leicester City over the possibility of signing centre-back Conor Coady.
Following the Foxes’ relegation back to the EFL Championship, as outlined by Rob Tanner of the Athletic, Leicester’s budget has been ‘slashed’, thereby looking to ‘move on high earners’, and Coady very much falls into that category, especially with just one year remaining on his contract.
Coady joined Leicester from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported £8.5m fee two summers ago but, now 32 years old, could certainly be available at a cut-price.
How Conor Coady would improve Rangers
Leadership is undoubtedly Coady’s greatest quality, with Sean Dyche having previously praised his “immaculate” professionalism, something that was severely lacking at Rangers last season, hence why the England international could be an excellent addition both on and off the park.
Yet, would he be better than Harry Darling? Many outlets this summer underlined that Martin was hoping to sign centre-back Darling for a third time, having previously worked with him at both Milton Keynes and Swansea.
However, it was announced earlier this week that the 25-year-old had decided to join Norwich City as a free agent instead, meaning Martin and the Rangers hierarchy will be forced to look elsewhere.
This has seen the Gers step-up their interest in Coady, but how do these two defenders compare? Let’s find out.
Appearances
43
39
Minutes
3,103
3,337
Pass completion %
92%
87.4%
Interceptions
0.6
0.6
Tackles
0.6
0.8
Clearances
3.2
5
% of ground duels won
57.2%
66%
Ball Recoveries
3.5
4.1
Touches
80.5
78.5
Statistics from the last two seasons were used for Coady for two reasons, to give him a bigger sample size, but also because this year’s data was massively skewed by the fact that he was playing for a historically terrible Leicester team.
Also, the EFL Championship, ranked 11th in the world by Global Football Rankings, is more comparable to the Scottish Premiership (43rd) than the Premier League.
That preamble aside, the table shows that Coady and Darling’s statistics are broadly similar, with the Leicester defender coming out on top for in-possession statistics, namely pass completion percentage and touches.
Then-Wolves teammate Fábio Silva has described the defender as “amazing” and “the best captain” he’s ever had, while Adam McNulty of Breaking the Lines praised his reading of the game and ability ‘to pick out a runner’ with his excellent distribution.
In the 2019/20 Premier League season, Coady completed more accurate long passes than anyone else in the division, hence why his outstanding on-ball skill-set would fit into a Martin team perfectly, given that the new Rangers boss’ style prioritises possession and control, underlining that this is a signing the Light Blues need to do everything in their power to finalise.
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