Former Scotland striker Frank McAvennie believes that a potential transfer from Premiership champions Rangers for Oli McBurnie would be a bad move for all parties.
The self-professed Ger has been linked in the last week to Ibrox by the Daily Mail after two disappointing seasons at Sheffield United.
The 25-year-old scored seven goals in 59 Premier League outings, and that record is generally considered a poor one considering the Blades paid an initial £17 million for the Scotland international.
He failed to hit the heights of his prolific 2018-19 Championship campaign with Swansea City, where he found the back of the net 22 times in 42 matches, but a drop down a division for the Blades may bring the best out of McBurnie.
However there's every chance he could be cashed in on should a club come in for him this summer, and Rangers would be hard to turn down considering his allegiances to the blue half of Glasgow.
For some though it would not represent good business, including ex-Celtic man McAvennie who doesn't think that the striker would be able to handle the pressure of being a leading man for a club the size of Rangers.
Sheffield United are going to want a decent fee for him,” McAvennie told Football Insider.
“Rangers don’t have that kind of money. Not for a striker who doesn’t score goals.
“They have a lot of strikers already as well, I know they have signed that lad from Belgium [Fashion Sakala].
“Maybe he’s [McBurnie] not been able to live up to that price tag but Glasgow is the biggest goldfish bowl in the world.
“Trust me, it is, I’m not sure that would do him any good. He’ll have no freedom up here.
“He’s got something, just hasn’t shown it. I would be very surprised if Rangers sign him, especially for that money.”
The Verdict
Despite being a friend of Rangers' enemy, McAvennie does raise good points when it comes to the potential capture of McBurnie.
Steven Gerrard seems well-stocked up-front - Kemar Roofe, Alfredo Morelos, Cedric Itten and now Fashion Sakala are all in his plans as strikers so there'd really be no need for McBurnie.
After two poor seasons in-front of goal as well, United are unlikely to recoup the fee they paid to Swansea for McBurnie, and in this case they may be better holding on to him as there's a chance he may find his feet once again at a lesser level than the Premier League.