George Edmundson's football frustrations - the centre-half who rejected Portsmouth for Rangers

Yet George Edmundson has struggled for matches at Rangers since rejecting Fratton Park last summer.

The centre-half, who turns 23 on Friday, was keenly pursued by Kenny Jackett last summer.

With Clarke set for Brighton, the Blues’ recruitment team turned their attention to Edmundson, a highly-regarded performer with Oldham.

A Latics return of 79 appearances and three goals persuaded Pompey to make an approach, with a bid eventually accepted.

However, Edmundson instead elected to move to Rangers in June 2019.

That left Jackett to subsequently recruit Paul Downing on a free transfer and Sean Raggett on loan from Noriwch to bolster his centre-half options.

Although it would be the long-serving Christian Burgess who would emerge as an automatic choice and crowned The News/Sports Mail’s Player of the Season.

Edmundson, however, has failed to establish himself at Ibrox and is presently unable to break into their match-day squad.

Since his switch last summer, the 22-year-old has featured just 15 times, scoring twice.

Last season he was behind Nikola Katic, Connor Goldson and Filip Helander in the central-defensive spots, making just four Scottish Premiership starts.

Boss Steven Gerrard this summer added Nigerian international Leon Balogun to his defensive options following his release from Wigan.

Subsequently, Edmundson has yet to feature in Rangers’ opening four matches this term, being included in their 20-man squad just twice.

Instead, Goldson and Balogun have been the preferred choice for league matches, with Helander as back-up. In addition, another rival, Katic is out with a long-term knee injury.

Edmundson wasn’t even named on the nine-man bench for their two most recent matches against St Mirren and St Johnstone, both ending in 3-0 Rangers wins.

In fact, Steven Gerrard’s side have yet to concede in their three Scottish Premiership fixtures, highlighting their defensive strength at present.

Pompey are in the market for a new centre-half following Burgess’ departure and with Jackett previously having doubts over Paul Downing.

Raggett has signed permanently, while Jack Whatmough has been an automatic selection under Pompey’s boss when fully fit.

In the case of former target Edmundson, his career has noticeably stuttered since turning down the Blues in favour of a Scottish move.

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