Borna Barisic is one of Michael Beale’s most experienced players for Rangers but he’ll have been frustrated at sitting on the bench for so much of Croatia’s 4-2 win against the Netherlands.
Playing second fiddle to Ivan Perisic is nothing to be ashamed of but when the Nations League semi-final went to extra-time, the Gers left-back must have fancied his chances of making an early appearance.
With 31-caps for Croatia, Borna Barisic is a regular for his country but thoughts will now turn to the final where Spain or Italy await for the 30-year old.
Barisic is a great example of what Rangers need to do when it comes to valuing players as doubts about his future at Ibrox continue to circle.
For £2m we have more than got our money’s worth over the last five years since signing in 2018 but with one year left on his contract, the time is right to sell.
Ridvan Yilmaz impressing post-split and in the final Old Firm should also have made Michael Beale’s mind up about who gets the starting jersey but any offers for the Croatian have to be listened to.
Borna Barisic is worth more than Rangers fans give him credit for
Few players have had lows as low as Barisic but equally as high peaks.
Some of his finest performances have come in Old Firm derbies and on the continent where he has been aggressive, a driving force in attack and solid defensively.
On a bad day, he barely makes it over the halfway line and switches off constantly.
The disasters might be high profile but his consistency over the last five years is to be commended.
Other than James Tavernier, there are no full-backs in Scotland who have been able to match his numbers and most of the wingers outside of the Old Firm haven’t been able to either.
For perspective, he has more goal contributions than Ryan Kent this season in an almost identical number of games, at a ratio of one every three games.
Barisic has 57 goal contributions in 201 games, hopefully, like the Croatian national team, the Rangers hierarchy will value him for what he does well when it comes to his price tag.
