Glasgow Rangers coach Michael Beale has compared Nathan Patterson to Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, and has said that James Tavernier’s position could be under threat.
Patterson made his Premiership debut for the Gers against Kilmarnock at the weekend as the Ibrox outfit won 2-0. He is highly-rated by those at Ibrox, and he could well be the next youngster in line to feature on a regular basis after the likes of Greg Docherty and Ross McCrorie were sold earlier in this transfer window.
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Beale is clearly a big fan of the 18-year-old, and he said:
“When he first came over he looked like a young boy and had a lot of work to do but now every day he’s looking fitting, stronger, more focused and looking every day a little bit more like a man. We’re quite excited with him and Calvin [Bassey]. We played a behind-closed-doors game last week and they both scored which is fantastic for them.”
“Nathan’s come in and I think it’s just the impact to train every single day. Tavernier needs to look over his shoulder a little bit.
“I’ve lived this scenario before with Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool; a young right-back who had the same sort of energy, same sort of application to his work, so that’s a nice pat on the back for Nathan. But a word of caution, we’ve got it all to do still.”
Tavernier, of course, is the club captain – he will not be easy to displace at all. However, he is not the most popular figure amongst the fans, and the £4.5m-valued 28-year-old’s (as per Transfermarkt) defensive ability has been questioned by some pundits.
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Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, is arguably the best right-back on the planet right now. He is currently valued at £99m by Transfermarkt, and has managed a huge 31 assists in all competitions over the last two campaigns – if Patterson can even manage half of what he has achieved so far, he will be doing well for himself.
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