With the jury out on Rangers’ summer rebuild yet more uncertainty is on the horizon with six first-team stars out of contract come the summer of 2024.
Rangers fans might’ve already begun to turn on Michael Beale, who looks one more set of dropped domestic points away from the chop, but there are big decisions to be made this season.
Say what you what about soon to be out-of-contract Rangers stars Borna Barisic, John Lundstram, Ryan Jack, Kemar Roofe, Jon McLaughlin and Leon Balogun, but they have big Ibrox experience.
The Ibrox side have signed nine new players this summer with only Jack Butland genuinely impressing and Dujon Sterling, the returning Leon Balogun, Kieran Dowell, Jose Cifuentes, Sam Lammers, Abdallah Sima, Cyriel Dessers & Danilo having it all to prove.
New Rangers signings finding out the hard way
These guys are finding out quickly that you get no time to settle at Rangers and – for the most part – their contribution has been nowhere near the standard required at our football club.
With an international break to stew over a disastrous start to the season, the pressure is on Michael Beale who – for now at least – is set for a stay of Rangers execution.
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But it’s the Rangers manager who overseen a summer rebuild which has seen several of the club’s most experienced stars move on and so far unconvinced fans that they’ve been suitably improved upon.
With the club’s net transfer spend sitting at somewhere around £0, fans are beginning to think the club has gone backwards in the transfer window and the new players must start delivering or they’ll soon see their Ibrox careers condemned before they even got off the ground.
As harsh as it sounds, these are the conditions at Rangers and under such pressure are diamonds formed with it on Michael Beale’s new additions to prove that they’re more rare gemstones than finite fossil fuel being burnt out before we’ve even hit winter.
Jury out on out of contract Rangers transfer decision this summer
With several players out of contract this summer, Rangers opted to release Allan McGregor, Filip Helander, Scott Arfield, Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos.
Joining them in leaving the club has been Antonio Colak, Fashion Sakala, Ianis Hagi, Glen Kamara and returning Bayern loanee Malik Tillman.
We honestly can’t say that our squad is stronger than last season when we capitulated in the face of Celtic and were humiliated in Europe.
The rest of the season will confirm or banish the support’s fears over these new players but with Michael Beale’s card marked, their success will also play a huge factor in the club’s future business.
That includes who will be deciding if the six out of contract Rangers stars deserve renewals.
As things currently stand, the form of the Rangers team is proving sometimes you should be careful what you wish for.