League One trio Wigan Athletic, Luton Town and Reading are all plotting a move for Northern Irish Forward Ronan Hale, according to Pete O Rourke on his X account. Hale has played 34 times for struggling Ross County in the Scottish Premier League as they fought with relegation this season.
Despite being up against it, The 26 year old managed to hit the back of the net 15 times and this has alerted the trio to what he could manage to produce for their clubs. One stumbling block could be a fee, the contract the 26 year old signed at the beginning of the season is a 3 year deal and he is rated at around £650,000 which in League One is a lot.
Hale begun his career with Birmingham City but failed to make a single appearance and was shipped out to Derry City on loan, finding the back of the net 8 times in 31 appearances. This isn’t the first time Hale has scored several in a season as in his previous two seasons he was scoring for Cliftonville in Ireland, scoring 50 times in 80 outings. What a stat is.
This followed a two year stay with Larne, where he scored 27 times in 77 games. His previous admirers are Derby County, Wrexham, Portsmouth, Peterborough United and Bolton to name but a few. In 262 games overall, Hale has scored 110 goals and has 27 assists and at a time when goalscorers are going up in price, this could be a steal for the right price.
One of Hale’s final swansongs for his current club could well be the potentially crucial penalty he scored on Wednesday evening as Ross County got what could prove to be a draw that keeps them up.
Luton and Reading both face possible rebuilds for different reasons. Luton have come down from the Championship and will be hoping for an immediate return. Reading, meanwhile, were days away from going out of business before being bought out by Redwood Holdings. Wigan have been goal-shy themselves this season as well though so this could come down to who wants Hale the most.
At 26, Hale still has the potential to improve and get even better than he already is as well, this being opitimised by his first Northern Ireland call-up recently. Could this come down to a bidding war? Also, could Hale cope with the pace and physicality of the English game in what would undoubtedly be a step-up?
