When quizzed about the prospect of Filip Helander leaving Rangers during the January transfer window last month, the nonplussed expression on Mick Beale’s face made the following rebuttal almost unnecessary.
“That’s news to me,” Beale told a press conference. “(Helander) is a player that I like, and a man that I like. Yeah, I’ve not heard that rumour.”
But while the Sweden international ended up staying beyond the winter – reports of a return to Scandinavia coming to nothing – it would be a major surprise if Helander is still wearing royal blue when 2023/24 kicks off later this year.
The £4 million signing from Bologna will turn 30 in April. And, with his contract running out and having not played a single competitive minute since the final day of last season, there appears to be a very real chance that Helander will be denied the chance to say an on-pitch farewell to the Ibrox faithful.
Given his age – not to mention the fitness issues that have blighted him over the last 18 months – Helander feels far less likely to be offered a contract extension than the likes of, say, Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Jack.
Has Filip Helander already played his last game for Rangers?
“I do not know (what my future holds),” Helander told Aftonbladet over the Christmas period. “My priority is to get back on the field first and foremost.
“Somewhere I am aware that I have to make some kind of decision before the summer. Whether we stay here or move somewhere else, we’ll see.”
“There have been a lot of injuries. But they have been injuries that have been difficult for me to do anything about. First it was the knee and then the foot. It has been hard.”
Even if Helander was to return to full fitness tomorrow, it’s fanciful to suggest that Beale would dismantle a burgeoning centre-half partnership to make room for the one-time Aston Villa and Leicester City target. Ben Davies, a summer signing from Liverpool, continues to grow in stature and influence at Ibrox; his understanding with Conor Goldson a key factor in the club’s excellent recent run.
According to The Athletic, meanwhile, a new left-sided centre-half is one of Beale’s leading priorities – alongside a new goalkeeper and a new striker – for the summer transfer window. Perhaps the clearest indication yet that Rangers are planning for life without Helander.
There are just three months remaining this season. Three months for Helander to claw back just enough fitness to remind the Rangers fans, one last time, why those never-ending injuries should not be what he is remembered for at Ibrox.
At his best, Helander was a brilliantly belligerant centre-half; a man who almost appeared to be a magnet for high crosses. That is how the Ibrox faithful should remember him; throwing his body on the line and smashing away any ball that dared to come his way.
