Rangers' James Tavernier wanted by Premier League clubs, says Mark Warburton
Tuesday 22 October 2019 12:20, UK
QPR manager Mark Warburton has claimed a number of Premier League clubs are currently scouting Rangers' right-back James Tavernier.
After their 1-1 draw with Hearts on Sunday, the former Rangers boss says the full-back is still consistently attracting a lot of attention, despite a number of costly errors in recent games.
"I know for a fact there is a lot of interest in him down here. I hear people talk and I've had a lot of phone-calls from managers at other clubs who are asking me about him. I always give them my honest opinion," Warburton told the Daily Record.
"But this is not a new thing. It's been going on for a long time now. I remember we were playing a game and we knew a top Premier League club was coming to watch him.
The draw meant Rangers missed the chance to regain first place in the Scottish Premiership ahead of rivals Celtic, but Warburton, who signed Tavernier during his tenure at Ibrox, agrees that there is still much more to come from the Englishman.
"After the game I was chatting with David Weir and we agreed that Tav hadn't had the best of games in terms of one-v-one defending.
"Then the guy from the club who was watching him came up to us and said, 'He was magnificent!'
"What he saw was an athlete going forward, whipping balls into the box and causing all kinds of trouble for the opponent. So a lot of Premier League clubs have been watching him because they know how good he is.
"He's a very talented boy. Yes, everyone has areas that can be improved but Tav is an outstanding asset and a top-class professional. He deserves nothing but respect."
Rangers will next travel to Portugal as they face Porto in the Europa League on Thursday night.
