Rangers defender James Tavernier will become first ever Englishman to win Europa League Golden Boot ahead of Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane and ‘would star for every Premier League club except Liverpool and Man City’

Not since UEFA's rebrand of the Europa League in 2009 has an English player ever managed to scoop the illustrious Golden Boot award.

But one man is closing in on a record that Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane and the rest all failed to achieved - and his name is James Tavernier.

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The right-back, fresh from winning Rangers' Players' Player of the Year award this month, has been spearheading the Scottish champions' unlikely charge for Europa League glory.

Tavernier continued his rich rein of goalscoring form as Rangers overcame RB Leipzig 3-1 in the semi-final second leg.

That strike - which followed his double in the quarter-final win over Braga - took him him to 15 European goals since his arrival in 2015.

He is now THIRD in Rangers' all-time list of the club’s Euro scorers behind Alfredo Morelos and talkSPORT's Ally McCoist.

But Tavernier is also now clear of Porto ace Galeno and Lyon's Karl Toko-Ekambi in the race for this season's Europa League Golden Boot.

And crucially, the 30-year-old will claim the award providing Frankfurt's Daichi Kamada doesn't score three or more goals in the final live on talkSPORT tonight.

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Former Rangers star Richard Foster told : “It’s incredible the numbers Tavernier puts up.

“To be the top scorer in the Europa League for a right-back is superb.

“He scores goals but also provides so many assists as well and he is a real threat. He is too important in terms of them going forward to stay back all the time.

“He will want to go out and win leagues, cups and potentially even the Europa League for the club.

"But sometimes you have to look at your own achievements and I’m sure he is proud to be the third-highest European scorer for Rangers.

“It would be a great thing for one of the strikers to do, never mind the right-back."

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What's even more impressive is that all of Tavernier's seven goals have come in the knockout rounds, with a penalty against Red Star Belgrade and three goals to sink Borussia Dortmund adding to his Braga brace.

And he's now within touching distance of joining Stan Bowles, Gary Bannister and Alan Shearer in being the only Englishmen to be top goal scorer in UEFA's secondary competition.

Since the Europa League's introduction, Rooney has thrice played in the tournament - even winning it in the 2016/17 season - but only managed six goals in total.

Tottenham's absence from Europe's elite in recent seasons has also meant Kane has become a mainstay of the competition.

But despite winning both the Premier League and World Cup Golden Boots, Kane has never managed to be the Europa League top scorer.

In six attempts, the closest the Spurs striker got was seven goals in 2014/15 - one behind eventual winners Romelu Lukaku and Alan.

Winning the Golden Boot would cap an incredible turnaround for Tavernier following a difficult start to his career in England.

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Born in Bradford, he was a Leeds fan growing up and joined their academy aged nine but exited seven years later.

Tavernier went on to join Newcastle in 2008 and his debut came in 2009, but several loan spells soon followed – to one National League side and five League One teams.

Newcastle didn’t believe he’d make the grade at the top level, and Wigan signed him for an undisclosed fee in 2014.

He didn’t last long with the Latics – just 11 games – before he was loaned out of Bristol City for the second half of the 2014/15 season.

Rangers saw something in him and came calling in 2015 and swooped to take him north of the border for a mere £200,000.

Since then, Tavernier captained the Gers to their first league title in a decade and has scored 80 goals in 340 games.

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The boyhood Leeds fan has been linked a move to the Premier League in recent years to both Arsenal and to follow former manager Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa.

And Rangers icon Richard Gough believes Tavernier would WALK into any Premier League side apart from Liverpool or Manchester City.

Gough told the : “The only reason he is not playing for England, or at a very top end English Premier League club, is because there is a perception that he is not an absolutely first class defender.

“But he has improved loads in that respect and there’s no doubt in my mind that he easily could be playing for most clubs in England’s top flight. Particularly with the way attacking full backs have become so vital to the way the game is played. He would be perfect for it.

“I’m just highlighting why he’s not playing for Liverpool or Man City. But most of the others? No problem.

“I look at Gerrard going to Aston Villa and he has Matty Cash, now a Poland international, playing at right back. He’s a good player, but in my opinion, Tavernier is a better player."

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A move to the Premier League would no doubt increase Tavernier's England chances, with Paul Gascoigne being the last Rangers player to be called up by the national squad in November 1997.

Only one outfield player has been called up from Scotland by the Three Lions since Gazza - with Gareth Southgate seemingly snubbing the prospect of capping players north of the border after Scott Sinclair's Champions League heroics for Celtic in 2016-17.

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It was telling as well that when England suffered an injury crisis at right-back last month he turned to uncapped Kyle Walker-Peters and left-back Tyrick Mitchell, both players with zero European experience and playing for a team in the Premier League's bottom half.

Tavernier might not be the next England international Rangers produce but he's about to claim a trophy all of them wish they had.