Rangers now want to sign full-back who Brendan Rodgers admired, Danny Rohl eager for January deal - report

The January transfer window is open and Rangers manager Danny Rohl, for the first time, has the chance to bring in signings of his own.

Since replacing Russell Martin in charge at Ibrox, Rohl has overseen an improvement in Rangers‘ domestic form, with the Gers firmly back in the Scottish Premiership title race.

After Rangers beat Premier Sports Cup champions St Mirren at the weekend, they’re now on 35 points from 19 games, six behind league-leading Hearts and three behind Celtic, who are their next opponents on Saturday.

Although Rohl has managed to resurrect Rangers’ season, there’s still a lot of work to be done on the squad of players he inherited and with the transfer window now open again, he has the chance to bolster his options ahead of the coming months.

Rangers set sights on ex-Hearts left-back James Penrice

According to STV Football Show host Ewen Cameron, Rohl has lined up a January move to sign AEK Athens left-back James Penrice.

The 27-year-old left Hearts to join AEK Athens in the summer for £2million, and it is understood that before he made the move to Greece, he was someone whom both Philippe Clement and Barry Ferguson admired.

Former Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is also said to have held an interest in the Livingston-born full-back when he was in charge at Parkhead.

Michael Stewart was surprised Rangers didn’t sign Penrice in the summer, but it seems that a return to Scotland is now firmly on the cards, with Cameron claiming that the Ibrox board have previously dragged their heels over signing the former Hearts star.

Jayden Meghoma is currently on loan at Rangers from Brentford, and he’s Rohl’s only out-and-out left-back option, playing 26 times in all competitions this term.

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How has Penrice performed at AEK Athens?

In Greece, Penrice has made 24 appearances in all competitions, assisting one goal.

He’s not exactly been a mainstay of the Europa Conference League side’s starting line-up, starting in just 15 of their 32 matches both domestically and on the continent.

According to Greek Super League stats by Sofascore, the left-back has created two big chances, completed 27 per cent of crosses and 33.3 per cent of dribbles while going forward this season.

Defensively, he has averaged 0.5 interceptions, 1.2 tackles, 1.9 clearances and 0.2 block shots per league fixture, as well as winning 37.3 per cent of his ground duels and 45.5 per cent of aerial duels.

Admittedly, those stats don’t sound too amazing, especially when Meghoma outscores him in virtually every one.

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