Rangers boss Michael Beale has dropped the biggest hint yet that legendary goalkeeper Allan McGregor will be offered a new contract at the club.
The Ibrox stopper is 41-years-old and his status at the club has been the subject of much debate this season as the club struggle to break Celtic’s Premiership hold.
Stand-in goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin flapped at Celtic Park earlier in the season, whilst Allan McGregor is believed to be decreasing in stature.
There’s a reason why the likes of Scotland goalkeeper Angus Gunn have been linked to Rangers with plenty believing change is nigh in the position.
But Michael Beale has put brakes on the suggestion Allan McGregor could retire come the end of the season as the Rangers manager hints at a longer stay.
Michael Beale hints at longer Allan McGregor stay
“Allan re-joined the club when I joined the club for the first time in the summer of 2018,” Beale told RangersTV.
“I hadn’t worked with him before but quickly I saw how fantastic he is day in, day out in terms of his work ethic, training and rituals.
“He is a man who sticks to his rituals and works away. If we are a minute late getting to the stadium then he gets really annoyed because he is really thorough in his preparation, his recovery and his training. That has enabled him to have a wonderful career.
“To achieve 500 games for Rangers is a very special achievement. Very few have done it in the past, certainly to the age that Allan has played and the achievements that he has had for the club.
“In the time I have worked with him here he is probably on the best part of 200, nearly 250 games. He has been outstanding. Some of the saves that he has made… there are too many to mention.
“I think Allan is a cornerstone to everything that’s been good about this club since I came in 2018 and I think he can be hugely proud. He is not finished yet – it will be 500-and-something. It won’t be 500, it won’t end there.
“But I think the service that he has given this football club, as a young boy coming through our academy, is absolutely outstanding.”
Whether this hinting at an extension to his playing time at the club, or in the background of Rangers, it’s clear that Michael Beale thinks very highly of Allan McGregor.
So as Rangers fans might grumble over the goalkeeping position, heading into the summer it remains unclear how the club are going to progress.
