As the signings continue to roll in following Steven Gerrard’s arrival at the start of the summer, is Ross McCrorie in danger of being frozen out at Rangers?
Ryan Jack and Lassana Coulibaly have earned rave reviews from the Gers support since the beginning of the season, with Graham Dorrans and Greg Docherty both able to deputise in defensive-midfield roles if necessary.
Questions must be asked about where this leaves McCrorie, who made such a huge impact when coming through under Portuguese flop Pedro Caixinha and latterly Graeme Murty.
Eccentric former Rangers manager Caixinha, who now manages Cruz Azul, claimed that McCrorie could one day become “one of the best centre-halves in history”. Caixinha was never one to speak much sense, but there was a lot of potential in McCrorie which started to show as the season went along.
After coming through the ranks at the club and being captain of the under-20 side, McCrorie showed a maturity beyond his years in his days as a centre-back before being switched to a defensive-midfielder in December.
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Supporters again saw a lot of potential with McCrorie in the holding role, and the young Scot remains a commanding presence in the Rangers squad after finishing the season strongly.
There remains bags of ability that the 20-year-old could unleash if given the chance to develop, but the numbers in the Rangers midfield at the moment threatens to curtail that momentum built up from last season.
So far this season, McCrorie has had to settle for just two starts in the five competitive games under Gerrard. He wasn’t even on the bench for the second leg against Osijek as he failed to appear in the tie against the Croatians, before returning as an unused substitute in the 1-1 draw at Pittodrie on Sunday against Aberdeen.
A loan spell wouldn’t be out of the question for McCrorie given how young he is and the high quality that he possesses. However, it’s important Rangers don’t allow a talent like him to fizzle out and become a missed opportunity.