Rangers are making good progress as they look to sign James Sands on loan from New York City FC, according to The Daily Mail. 

The lowdown

Giovanni van Bronckhorst said prior to the January transfer window that he didn't want his squad to get any smaller. Rangers have agreed to sell Nathan Patterson to Everton for around £16m, with the transfer being completed today.

In Sands, they are pursuing a player who can line out at right-back, although he has predominantly been a defensive midfielder and a centre-back during his career. He is only 21 years old but has already been capped seven times by the United States senior team.

The latest

According to The Daily Mail, talks between Rangers and New York City FC over a deal for Sands are said to be 'advancing well'.

The Gers are hopeful of securing his services on an 18-month loan, running until the end of the 2022/23 season.

The verdict

Sands, who replaced Andrea Pirlo from the substitutes' bench to make his NYCFC debut in 2017, is one of the outstanding young talents in Major League Soccer. The club have even referred to him as the 'apprentice' of the two-time Champions League and 2006 World Cup winner, which is not a bad endorsement at all.

In 2020, he featured on the league's '22 under-22 list', and a year later he was named in the All-Star roster which took on the best players from Liga MX (via MLS), which further highlights his precocious talent.

This could be a tremendous piece of business for Rangers if they pull it off, particularly if they can negotiate an option to buy the American next year.

In other news, lots of Rangers fans reacted to this Nathan Patterson revelation