Rangers manager Michael Beale has been talking up the need for Scottish transfers – as Ibrox-linked Ryan Porteous reportedly prepares to move elsewhere.
The Gers have been linked to a host of domestic talents over the last few windows with Lewis Ferguson (Bologna) and Josh Doig (Verona) excelling at their new clubs after Rangers failed to make reported interest concrete.
With European squad quotas demanding eight homegrown players, including four who’ve been trained at the club, UEFA ensures clubs shop local and it means Rangers need to bulk out their team with the best players who’ve been trained in the country.
In recent seasons, only the likes of Ryan Jack and Scott Wright (both Aberdeen) have boosted the homegrown quota with the club decidedly short on Scottish transfers.
But Michael Beale insists that Rangers need to be focusing on these sorts of transfers, even if the most recent player linked to the club in Hibs star Ryan Porteous looks set to move elsewhere.
According to BBC Sport, Blackburn now head the list of suitors for the highly-rated Scotland international with Italian side Udinese and French outfit Toulouse also interested.
Rangers boss Michael Beale lauds potential Scottish transfers
“You have to have Scottish players,” said Michael Beale as he answered questions on Rangers’ transfers.
“It’s Rangers, but also for the European quota, you have to have Scottish players in your squad.
“I think we should be proud, as people who work in and around the Scottish game, that some players have left these shores and done very well in the last couple of years – maybe better than people thought they were going to do.
“So sometimes we are glass half-empty in terms of the way we see our football.
“Players are coming out of our academies and going on to do well. We have lots of rivalries in Scotland, not just the big one here in Glasgow.
“There are a lot of rivalries for players to move from some clubs to other clubs in Scotland … it’s more feisty than elsewhere, we all know that. There’s a little bit of spite in the water if you like.
“But we’ve got good players in this country. Whether that’s young Nathan Patterson going down or young Josh Doig going across to Italy or Lewis Ferguson going to Italy or Hickey going across and coming back to the Premier League. I think we should champion these players.”
Michael Beale has also been discussing the potential for more transfers into Rangers and the signs are positive regarding one star in particular.