As Michael Beale admitted midweek that Kemar Roofe had picked up yet another injury issue, you could almost hear the internal groans of Rangers fans ring out around Scotland.
The Jamaican international striker, 30, has spent the best part of the last two seasons laid up and whilst the forward has been a reliable option when fit, he’s been equally reliable as a safe bet to be unfit.
There is no doubt that Kemar Roofe is a talented footballer and natural goalscorer and if injuries weren’t such a dramatic hindrance to his career Rangers would be lucky to have him.
But as things have transpired, with Michael Beale throwing his weight behind a resurgent Kemar Roofe all summer, the opposite might turn out to be true with the dice currently mid-roll on a major summer gamble.
Rangers and Michael Beale take Kemar Roofe gamble
There’s a reason why Rangers paid a reported £4.5m to sign Kemar Roofe from Anderlecht in 2020 with the striker going on to be Steven Gerrard’s top league scorer as the club lifted 55.
But since then Kemar Roofe has been out of the team so often that it’s actually a surprise to see him on the pitch in Rangers colours.
It may sound harsh on the player, and it is 100% not intended that way, but fundamentally, it is a huge gamble to bet on Roofe’s fitness across the entirety of a season and the Livingston injury fears prove it.
And that’s just what Rangers and Michael Beale have done heading into the new campaign with the Ibrox manager insistent that Kemar Roofe would be a big player for the club this season.
Apprehensive Ibrox fans might not have bought into that hype then and there’s little incentive to do so now as they wait on the impact of that groin problem amid a devastating run of injuries.
But for Michael Beale, whose summer signings are not completely firing at the top end of the park, it’s a gamble he must hope pays off as Kemar Roofe’s desperate run of injury luck continues.
