As reports filtered through on Tuesday afternoon that Manchester United were so far down the line in their pursuit of Altay Bayindir that the Fenerbahce goalkeeper was already undergoing medical checks with the Premier League giants, the future of one of Rangers’ own players became that little bit clearer.
According to the Scottish Sun, Robby McCrorie was also on Manchester United’s radar; Erik ten Hag’s search for a back-up glovesman taking him from Japan to Glasgow, Rotterdam to Istanbul.
But with Altay Bayindir now expected to end up at Old Trafford instead – reports from Turkey suggest that United have already agreed to stump up a fee rising to £6 million – one potential escape route appears to have closed as far as McCrorie is concerned.
After impressing towards the back end of last term – particularly in that 3-0 hammering of Celtic in the Old Firm derby – McCrorie is warming the Ibrox bench once again following the arrival of Jack Butland.
Butland, himself a former United shot-stopper, has played in all six of Rangers’ games so far in 2023/24, including during that Scottish League Cup clash with Greenock Morton.
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Robby McCrorie looks set to stay at Rangers
The good news is that McCrorie appears to have firmly established himself as Rangers number two ahead of the far more experienced Jon McLaughlin. Mick Beale, meanwhile, remains a big fan of the Ayrshire-born 25-year-old.
“I think he will only get better with time,” Beale said at the start of the summer, via Herald Scotland. “He’s 100 per cent in my thinking. He always knew he would get an opportunity. He has set a high standard for himself.”
The Sun adds that, alongside Manchester United, there is also interest in McCrorie from Hull City and, looking a little further afield, Polish champions Rakow Czestochowa.
But with McCrorie clearly viewed as a useful member of the Rangers squad by Beale and with his most enticing destination no longer on the cards, the 25-year-old’s future – his immediate future anyway – appears to life at Ibrox.