Steven Gerrard tried to sign Harvey Barnes and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall on loan for Rangers and believes Brendan Rodgers blocked both deals. Celtic Shorts reports that the former Ibrox manager made the claim on The Overlap, recalling an international-break friendly against Leicester City’s Under-23s at Ibrox.
Gerrard checked the team sheet, then asked sporting director Mark Allen to arrange loans for both, whatever it took, as soon as it finished. Rodgers managed Leicester at the time, and Gerrard thinks his Celtic ties explain why nothing happened. He offered no proof, so it remains his interpretation.
What Gerrard saw in Dewsbury-Hall
Dewsbury-Hall was the one Gerrard described in detail. Rangers played two eights who liked to arrive in the box, so he wanted a running midfielder on the left, occasionally the right, who won the ball back and delivered half-space crosses. He tied that profile to England selection too. Thomas Tuchel left the 28-year-old out of his Nations League squad on 6 November, saying he was very close, and Gerrard believes David Moyes gives him more licence to run.
He said of Dewsbury-Hall: “I did try and sign him on loan, I must say. He was a youngster at Leicester. We played Leicester’s Under-23s in an international break, the Rangers team, because we wanted to give minutes to the lads that were staying behind.
“So, we played Leicester’s Under-23s. They came up and we played them at Ibrox. I’m watching the game and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Who’s he? And who’s he?’
“So, I go to the team sheet: Harvey Barnes and Dewsbury-Hall. As soon as the game finished, I’m saying to Mark Allen, who was the sporting director at the time, ‘Can you get me them two on loan? Do whatever we need to do to get them on loan.’
“But unfortunately, Brendan Rodgers was the manager at the time, and I just… yeah, that was probably the reason. Yeah, but I would have took them, I would have took both of them on loan in a flash.
“I think this is the key as to why he’s just missed out [on the England squad]. We wanted him to be a running eight. We played with two eights that liked to get into the box, we seen him as that left-sided one, or sometimes on the right, getting the ball back and putting half-space crosses in.
“So we seen him in a few different roles that we wanted him in our team for, but I think David Moyes has given him a little bit more freedom and license to run.”
The numbers support the running claim. Opta’s analysts found no Everton player applied more pressure in the Premier League last season, and the left-footer scored the third in Everton’s 3-1 win over Coventry hours after the England snub. Tuchel sees him as an attacking midfielder rather than a deeper option, though, and Opta called his Chelsea spell underwhelming before the reported £28m move to Merseyside.
Barnes, a right-footed left winger, signed a new long-term Newcastle contract on 26 October after a career-best 16 goals in all competitions last season. He shoots often, with 50 attempts in 1,657 league minutes, yet FotMob’s rankings against other wide players put his touches, chance creation and defensive work well down the list, and he started only 17 of 30 league games.
Derek McInnes’s side sit second in the Premiership, a point behind Celtic with a game in hand, after extending their unbeaten domestic run to 12 matches with a 2-0 win at St Mirren last Saturday. Captain Dan Neil and Nico Raskin have both scored from midfield in recent league games.
Would either player suit McInnes’s Rangers now?
No, and neither is worth chasing now. Dewsbury-Hall’s Everton contract runs to 2030, and his value has climbed because Moyes lets him run. Rangers could not match the fee or wages, and Everton would not loan out a 28-year-old now on England’s radar. Barnes has just committed his future to Newcastle, so Rangers would need a permanent fee they cannot justify.
The profile still matters. Neil and Raskin already give McInnes midfielders who arrive in the box, so Dewsbury-Hall would be a change in style rather than a solution to a problem. Barnes suits a team short of finishers, yet Rangers have scored 21 in 12 league games, so a shot-heavy winger who adds little elsewhere ranks low. Gerrard’s method is the better lesson. He watched Premier League Under-23 players at Ibrox and moved that evening. Rangers cannot buy that profile at 28, so they have to find it at 21.
