Former Liverpool and Tottenham midfielder Danny Murphy has suggested that Rangers manager Steven Gerrard should try and make a move for Spurs attacking midfielder Dele Alli in the January transfer window.

The 24-year-old has won the PFA Young Player of the Year award on two occasions but he has rarely been used by manager Jose Mourinho this season. Murphy thinks Alli’s confidence could be boosted by going on loan to Scotland:

“I’m not sure Dele would be up for it, but I thought maybe Stevie G at Rangers could persuade him to go there and win him the title. He’d play every week, score a lot of goals, get his confidence up and impress Gareth Southgate. There is an argument to say ‘would that be enough scoring at that level?’ because it is a drop down. But I don’t know. Maybe playing under Stevie is something that he would enjoy.”

Murphy’s suggestion is rather bizarre, considering Tottenham would demand that Rangers pay at least some of his salary if he were to be allowed out on loan; something that the Light Blues could almost certainly not afford.

Even so, it does seem as though Rangers’ reputation is rising within the game as Murphy would probably not have suggested such a transfer even 18 months ago. After qualifying for the knockout stages of the Europa League, the Gers are on the up both on the domestic and European stage.