Rangers stepped up their charm offensive on Friday evening, with Leon King involved around the squad for the Scottish Cup tie vs Stranraer.
King, who only turned 16 this week, is reportedly subject to transfer attention from top teams like Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea [Daily Record].
The coveted young central defender isn’t currently tied to the Gers on professional terms and as a result, he could be prized away by another team for a compensation fee, in the same way Chelsea recruited Billy Gilmour in 2017.
With King allegedly rejecting an initial Gers contract offer in November [Daily Record], the most recent report on his future suggested that he was mulling over a second offer, but there was hesitancy to sign due to a lack of trust in the concept of a pathway from the Academy to the first team [Scottish Sun].
Within that context, it seems Steven Gerrard and co. were keen to prove to the player that he is in the club’s long-term plans.
While he wasn’t named on the bench, he went through the warm-up for the Scottish Cup tie and rubbed shoulders with the established first-teamers.
The club made a similar move with 17-year-old winger Kai Kennedy back in November, when he travelled as 19th man for the Scottish Premiership clash at Hamilton.
The same player attended the mid-season trip to Dubai and then made his competitive debut against Stranraer.
King is still extremely young, but this was a good touch from the club, and hopefully, it will serve as sufficient proof for the player, that’s he’s very much seen as a future first-team star.
