Rangers boss insists Ibrox transfer claims ‘wide of the mark’

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has insisted claims that Niko Katic’s Ibrox career is over are ‘wide of the mark’ but confessed he is looking at the ‘best solution’ for the Croatian defender after a year on the sidelines.

Katic has been out of action since suffering a serious knee injury last summer and played 70 minutes for Rangers B as they beat Dumbarton in the SPFL Trust Trophy.

With a number of players ahead of him in the pecking order at Ibrox, that led to suggestions that Katic’s days at Rangers were numbered but Gerrard maintains he is “happy” with the defender as he continues his recovery.

The Rangers boss hinted that Katic could go out on loan before too long, confessing that he needs regular games, but believes he’s in the “best possible place” to recover fully from his serious injury.

“We have had conversations with Niko in the last few days,” Gerrard told Rangers TV. “He played a B Team game and managed to play around 70 minutes and come through that which was positive news.

“We are having discussions with Niko now to find the best solution for him in the coming months – he needs to play football and I can’t guarantee him those games at the moment so we are trying to find the right solution for the boy in the short-term, but in terms of people putting two and two together and writing his future off at Ibrox and saying that he is not in the plans or is going to be sold, I think that is wide of the mark.

“We are happy with Niko. He has had a real, serious injury over the last 12 months and more, so now, it is about how can we get him a certain number of games to get him right up to speed and in the best possible place he can be in as there is no getting away from it, it takes time to come back from that level of injury.”

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