Rangers winger Jordan Jones may be wishing he’d secured a move away from Ibrox last month after he was excluded from the Europa League squad for the knockout stages [UEFA.com].
Jones was reportedly subject to interest from multiple English clubs in January, including Middlesbrough and Stoke City [Daily Record], and it looked at one stage as though he was on the verge of making a move.
However, with just hours left in the window, journalist, Graeme Bailey, asserted on Twitter, that all talks had broken down, with Rangers dissatisfied with all of the tabled offers.
As a result, Jones will still be a Rangers player until at least the end of the season.
Theoretically, that was going to give him plenty of time to convince Steven Gerrard that he could be effective in Light Blue.
However, it has emerged, somewhat surprisingly, that he has been left out of the extended squad for the knockout stages of the Europa League [UEFA.com].
He was removed from the list for the group stages of the competition due to a knee injury, which saw him miss several months of action. Yet, based on his exploits during the qualifying campaign, he could reasonably have expected a recall.
Jones appeared five times and made the squad for seven of the eight qualifying fixtures, impressing and registering an assist at Midtjylland as well as providing the inch-perfect cross for Alfredo Morelos’ last-gasp play-off round winner against Legia Warsaw.
Now, though, while the likes of Brandon Barker – who is yet to register an assist in 11 appearances for the club – retain their places, Jones will be forced to watch on from afar.
It’s a decision that doesn’t seem to tally with Gerrard’s selections so far in 2020, either. Rangers have played five matches in all competitions this year and the 25-year-old has made the matchday 18 in all but one.
The manager’s call ensures that Jones won’t be available for selection regardless of how far the Gers go in Europe and it could hint that involvements in domestic competitions will soon also be few and far between.
Given that he seemingly came so close to securing a January exit and a shot at regular playing time, that must be hard to take.
