Rangers have a lot of decisions to make in the summer in terms of what players to move on including some who haven’t been at the club for long.
Barry Ferguson might not get much of a say even as the current Rangers manager with Nils Koppen likely to be calling the shots.
One player at risk is Nedim Bajrami, currently one of the 11 players on international duty and returning to Auchenhowie this week with club football returning.
Bajrami signed for £3.5m on deadline day and a lot was expected of a player arriving from Italy to replace the outgoing Todd Cantwell.
After a goal on Ferguson’s debut as Rangers boss, things have gradually gone downhill with things only getting worse for Bajrami on international duty too.
Nedim Bajrami benched as season goes from bad to worse for Rangers playmaker
In last summer, the 26-year old made a name for himself scoring the fastest goal in the European Championship’s history.
He was one of the first names on the team-sheet, a playmaker and a goal threat.
Now, he can’t even get off the bench against Andorra or the chance to boost his confidence against a lesser team.
The previous fixture might have been against England, but with 19 touches of the ball, he was almost non-existent.
Despite spending most of the game defending, to not make any tackles and win just one duel, is also an indication of how poor he was.
What did Barry Ferguson say when Rangers signed Bajrami?
As Ferguson said on the Go Radio Football Show, when Rangers first signed Bajrami, for £3.5m, he really should be a starter for club and country:
“I’m looking forward to seeing him. I saw a bit of him in the Euros and looked back at a few highlights. Look, he looks a very decent footballer but you need to see him in the flesh,” said Ferguson.
“Scottish football is a difficult place to play your football but by all accounts, I think he can strengthen the team but time will tell. He’s been playing games so I would imagine get him straight into that team on Sunday up at Tannadice.
“The pitch is going to be like a bowling green, throw him in because you’ve spent £3.5 million on him. If you are going to spend that kind of money, he’s got to be a certain starter.”
For whatever reason, Bajrami just hasn’t adapted to life at Rangers with his poorest games coming in his preferred No.10 position.
Only when he has been asked to cover Callum McGregor has he looked like the player Philippe Clement thought he was getting.
Rangers last three games against Fenerbahce and Celtic saw Bajrami fail to get off the bench for two of them and play just 52 minutes in the other.
How Koppen solves the Bajrami problem is going to be one of many difficult summer tasks.
