It’s going to be an interesting summer at Rangers with players emptying their lockers and others arriving, hopefully, to redress the balance and restore order in Scottish football.
Five players are out of contract, and there are others who aren’t good enough for Rangers and need to be moved on.
The timing of the San Francisco 49ers takeover couldn’t be better with the deal on track to be signed off before the end of May.
A summer of transition both on and off the pitch.
There could though, be one constant, the presence of James Tavernier in the Rangers squad when players report back after the summer break.
James Tavernier still producing the numbers for Rangers
Having apologised for Athletic Club’s second goal against Rangers that saw them knocked out of the Europa League, the Gers skipper faces an uncertain future.
All last summer, Tavernier was linked with a move to Saudi Arabia, but the only reported offer came from Trabzonspor.
The Hall of Fame skipper is 34 early next season and into the last year of his contract, it isn’t unrealist for Rangers to look to move him on.
Tavernier, with five goals and 12 assists, has had a poor season by his standards, and yet there won’t be many full-backs with 17 goal contributions across Europe this season.
A post by UEFA’s Europa League X page also served as a reminder as to the company Tavernier keeps in terms of how capable he is at the sharp end of the pitch.
Tavernier joins impressive cast in impressive Europa League list
Despite being a defender, Tavernier is fourth on a list of the Europa League’s top scoring English players.
It’s an impressive list too.
Not only that, but if he is at Rangers next season, he might have the chance to climb even higher, although this would be scant consolation for failing to qualify for the Champions League.
Below Tavernier is Ruben Loftus-Cheek on eight goals, Tavernier is on 10, Jermain Defoe and Harry Kane on 11 and Marcus Rashford on 14 – not bad company to keep.
Despite his age, if Rangers do want to move Tavernier on, there is enough evidence to still get a decent fee, if his 130 goals and 140 assists in 500 games isn’t enough.
