Rangers have no interest in a move for veteran striker Jamie Vardy, with Ally McCoist’s long-held recruitment stance effectively reflected in the club’s current forward planning following the signing of Lawrence Shankland.
The Ibrox side now operate with a crowded forward line, with Shankland joined by Youssef Chermiti, Ryan Naderi, Bojan Miovski and returning NEC Nijmegen loanee Danilo, leaving little room, or need, for further veteran additions in that department.
This comes despite uncertainty over the futures of Miovski and Danilo.
Ally McCoist declines option on Jamie Vardy
Speaking with former Sky Sports host Jeff Stelling on TalkSport McCoist firmly rejected any idea of the Gers signing Vardy.
“Nah. I am swiping left. We have just signed Lawrence Shankland,” said the record goalscorer.
“I am happy with Shankland and I am willing to give the boy Chermiti another chance.
“I am going left because we have signed Lawrence Shankland. And I think Shankland and Chermiti might do the business.”
John Brown reveals Gers pursuit of Jamie Vardy
The clarification comes not long after former Rangers defender and scout John Brown revealed how close the club came to signing Vardy during McCoist’s managerial spell in charge.
Back when the England international was still operating in non-league football with Fleetwood Town.
Speaking on the Craig Campbell podcast, Brown recalled a scouting trip that, in hindsight, underlines one of football’s most famous near-misses.
“I was doing the scouting when [Ally McCoist] came in,” Brown said. “The biggest one we looked at that we never signed was Jamie Vardy.”
At the time, Vardy was still a raw non-league forward, but Brown insists the potential was immediately obvious.
“During the bad years, while Coisty was the manager and Craig Whyte was in charge,” he said. “I was sent down to a non-league game and seen him.”
“I just said to Coisty: ‘you need to get him signed’. He’s non-league but if we’ve got half a million, get him.”
However, Brown acknowledged the financial reality at the time made any deal unrealistic under the club’s then ownership structure.
“But Craig Whyte was never going to make that happen,” he added.
Ally McCoist made moves to sign forward
Despite that, Brown says McCoist did make an attempt to progress the recommendation.
“Coisty did go to Craig Whyte, but you knew he was never going to make an offer,” he said. “He was a stick on and Coisty wanted him.”
Looking back, Brown believes Vardy would have made a decisive difference to that Rangers side.
“He would have won that league with him because he still had [Nikica] Jelavic, [Allan] McGregor and [Steven] Davis during that period,” he said.
“He would have helped Coisty so much as some of the senior players latterly really downed tools and let him down.”
Readrangers.com analysis – Jack Cranmer
Vardy would instead go on to become one of the defining stories of modern football, helping Leicester City to a Premier League title, an FA Cup triumph and England recognition at major tournaments, before ending his long spell at the King Power Stadium.
Now 39, he has most recently been with Cremonese following his departure from Leicester, bringing an end to a career that will inevitably be remembered as one of football’s great what-ifs for clubs who missed out early.
