The appointment of Steven Gerrard as Aston Villa’s new manager could have an impact on Manchester United loanee Ethan Laird.
It has been confirmed today that the former Liverpool midfielder has left Rangers to replace Dean Smith at Villa Park (BBC Sport).
Gerrard’s exit at Ibrox means the reigning Scottish Premier League champions are searching for his replacement.
The Mirror are reporting that the Glasgow giants are looking at Swansea City manager Russell Martin to replace the former England international.
The report claims that Rangers have already made enquiries about the former Scotland defender, who also had a loan spell at the club.
Ethan Laird impact
Apart from the coaches at Manchester United, the only manager that Ethan Laird has played under during his short professional career is Russell Martin.
Following a six-month loan playing under the former Norwich City defender at League One side MK Dons last season, Laird joined up with Martin again this season, but at Swansea.
Despite being pummelled 4-0 by league leaders Bournemouth in the last match before the November international break, Swansea are only three points off the play-off places.
In his first season of Championship football, Laird has flourished under Martin and has become a key part of the Welsh side. He has four assists from 16 games and is one of the league’s top dribblers (WhoScored).
The worry will be that if the Martin rumours to Ibrox continue to build momentum and he does eventually leave the club, after a short period in charge, where will that leave Laird?
The 20-year-old has become one of Swansea’s key players, but if a new manager came into the Liberty Stadium and opted against playing Martin’s favoured 3-4-3 formation, Laird’s Welsh fortunes could quickly change.
Manchester United would have to monitor Laird’s game time and progress. But if they felt Laird’s development was being hindered following Martin’s departure, a decision would have to be made.
If Martin did take the Rangers job then he may be interested in bringing Laird with him to Scotland.
But a move wouldn’t be possible until the New Year and Laird would be competing against club captain James Tavernier for the right full-back or wing-back role.
At this stage, we can only speculate about Laird’s future, but things could change very quickly.
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