RANGERS have checked out on-loan Nottingham Forest defender Jonathan Panzo as they ponder their signing options for next season, according to a report.
Gers boss Michael Beale has gone on the record a number of times about his desire to add to the side’s defensive options as part of his summer re-vamp.
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And the 22-year-old, currently playing his football on-loan at Coventry City, having been sent out on loan after his move from French football with Dijon, could fit the bill – with the Daily Record claiming the Ibrox men have watched him in action.
He’s made 28 appearances in all for the Sky Blues this season as they’ve ridden to the giddy heights of eighth in the table – but hasn’t featured since early February after a run of yellow and red cards.
The 6ft 1in defender is well-known to Beale via his time in the Chelsea youth ranks.
He has played for England through all the youth levels, including an appearance for England in the final of the Under-17 championship.
He started at the back for a side featuring Phil Foden, Jaden Sancho, Callum Hudson-Odoi and others as they went down to Spain on penalties – only to also feature as this same England youth squad BEAT Spain to win the youth World Cup shortly afterwards.
But his senior career began out in the French league with high rollers Monaco, with whom he made a couple of appearances before being loaned out to Cercle Bruges.
From there it was onto Dijon, before arriving in the English game with Forest under his former England youth coach Steve Cooper for an undisclosed fee.
A strong, left sided centre back who could also play left back in the mould of Calvin Bassey, Panzo is under contract at Forest until the summer of 2025.
But it remains to be seen whether they would sanction a further loan for him in the summer, or what the asking price might be if a deal could be done.
Forest currently find themselves three points off the bottom in the English Premier League – but they have a massive squad and there could be further arrivals in the summer.
Beale has made no secret of his desire to strengthen his squad next summer, regardless of the outcome of this season’s title race.
He faces losing one left sided central defender in the form of Filip Helander, with the big Swede out of contract and thought to be interesting Malmo in his homeland.
This summer seems certain to be a time of flux in the Ibrox dressing room, with the Ibrox side also running the rule of Danish youth international defender Thomas Kristensen of AGH Aarhus.
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