RANGERS have given a trial to Livingston teenager Matthew Knox, who has trained with Manchester United and Liverpool, and hope they can do a deal for the player.
At just 16, Know has played first-team football for his Championship club and spent time at Tottenham and Everton, as well as being watched by almost every English Premier League outfit over the past few months.
Mark Warburton, the Rangers manager, has been highly impressed by the schoolboy who made his senior debut on Boxing Day against St Mirren in a 4-1 victory, only four days after his sixteenth birthday.
An attacking midfielder, Knox has spent the last two days at Murray Park and Warburton will speak to the board about the possibility of offering the player a contract.
And hopes that he can offer something that even English biggest names cannot, which is the realistic opportunity to play first-team football.
“He's just turned 16 and is a very smart and talented boy," said the Rangers manager. "He's confident, good in possession and technically gifted.
“All of the clubs are interested in a lot of these boys. You hear that Manchester United, or Liverpool, or Chelsea, or Arsenal, but their web is so far reaching and deep that there are a number of players being watched.
“But to go and sign for those clubs and play for those clubs is a different proposition. We'll speak to the powers-that-be, Frank (McParland, chief scout) will do his work and I'll give my football opinion on what I think. I really believe that you got to show there is a pathway. If there is a glass-ceiling there, you have no chance.
“If you are saying to an Academy player: Eat well, sleep well, train well, play hard and be the best you can be, but you have no chance of making the first-team, that can't happen."
Rangers obviously work at a much lower level in financial terms than even English Championship clubs but Warburton insisted he would still be picked when it came to blooding young players such as Knox.
“Supporters love to see homegrown players, but they have to be good enough," he said. "That's the key. Too many times, you see clubs blood someone and you never see them again.
“It's like another box is being ticked. If he is good enough, then you make sure there is an opportunity. If the opportunity is there, he has to be good enough to maximise the opportunity.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel