Tavernier Alert- Barry Ferguson fears Saudi raid as he discusses Sharia Law with Daily Record readers

Barry Ferguson fears that Steven Gerrard could make an offer to lure James Tavernier to Al Ettifaq.

It is a hardly unlikely scenario with Gerrard avoiding his former Ibrox stars during two transfer windows in charge of Aston Villa. In eight years at Ibrox there has barely been any hint of interest in Tavernier with most speculation focusing on Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent and Scott Wright.

Jota’s £25m midweek move to Al Ittihad has further mangled the mindset of Ibrox fans who have watched their side scramble around in the bargain bucket to strengthen Micky Beale’s squad.

Suddenly the Saudi League has become very topical, in a move that no one could have predicted Ferguson discusses Sharia Law with Daily Record readers!

After praising Beale’s new signings the former Alloa boss added a note of caution to his Record column:

There is always the nagging question of who might be heading out of the club in the opposite direction, and that’s why I’m a little bit concerned about speculation linking Steven Gerrard with a move for James Tavernier.

Look, everyone will have their own thoughts on what’s going on in Saudi Arabia at the moment and I understand why a lot of people don’t like it. But, from a purely professional point of view, I can’t blame any manager or player who ends up taking the oil money.

The numbers we’re talking about are frightening – it’s a bottomless pit of cash – and offers are being made which are completely life changing for the guys involved. It’s a one off chance to set your entire family up for the rest of their lives.

So if a young player like Jota finds that impossible to resist then I’m not about to knock him for it. And it’s the same thing where Tavernier is concerned.

Yes, there’s a downside involved. It’s a huge change of environment to move to Riyadh overnight and then live under Sharia Law. On the pitch, it’s not going to be the same as playing in Glasgow and thriving on the intensity of the Old Firm.

But it’s not forever. And the kind of sums that are being thrown around would be very difficult for any professional person in any walk of life to turn down.

For purely selfish reasons, I hope Tavernier isn’t put in the position of having to make that choice. I’d prefer it if Gerrard stays well away from him because he’s such an important figure in that Rangers side and he still has a massive part to play. The guy has toughed it out for a long time at Rangers and gone through some very hard yards. So he must be looking at the work that’s being done this summer and thinking he has a real chance to lift a lot of silverware over the next two or three years.

Tav has been getting excited over summer transfer business since Joey Barton rocked up at Murray Park with his coffee machine quickly followed by Nico Kranjcar, Filip Senderos and Josh Windass.

Last summer the Europa League finalists added Ridvan Yilmaz, Tom Lawrence, Rabbi Matondo and Ben Davies to their squad.

In eight seasons at Ibrox Tav has watched Celtic lift 18 domestic trophies.