Ranger signing rumours rebuffed
Reporter: Matthew Chambers
Date published: 02 February 2015
BAD-BOY striker Nile Ranger will not be signing for Athletic, the Chronicle understands.
A national newspaper said Lee Johnson had talked with Blackpool man Ranger (23) at a hotel before the Gillingham game.
But after the courting of convicted rapist Ched Evans brought with it such controversy recently, a pursuit of the talented but troubled Ranger — cleared of rape charges last year and sacked by Swindon as a result of disciplinary problems — is considered off-limits, for the club’s own good.
The former Newcastle United prospect has made 14 appearances for Blackpool in the Championship this season, scoring twice, but hasn’t featured in the first team since late November.
In December of last year, his manager Lee Clark complained that Ranger had been absent without leave from the club for a fortnight and said he didn’t know of his whereabouts.
The London-born forward responded on Twitter that he was back in the capital due to “family issues”.
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