The Scottish Sun reports that Rangers are eyeing a potential January swoop for Portsmouth goalkeeper, Craig MacGillivray.
The 26-year-old is allegedly seen as potential genuine competition for Allan McGregor, and is also being monitored by Birmingham City and Huddersfield Town. Pompey are said to value him at £2.5 million.
If this interest is genuine, for me, that should set off alarm bells for Robby McCrorie.
The Gers Academy starlet and Scotland U21 international has been touted as McGregor’s replacement for some time, and is currently out on a third loan spell away from the club, gaining experience.
It’s likely that with the contracts of Wes Foderingham, Jak Alnwick and Andy Firth all set to expire in the summer, he has been hoping that next year will see him promoted to the no.2 spot at Ibrox, and then if he bides his time for a season or two, McGregor will retire and the no.1 jersey will be his.
However, if Rangers spend something in the region of £2.5 million on a relatively young fellow Scot, it would surely throw a spanner in the works.
As we’ve seen in recent times with the likes of Ryan Hardie, no matter how highly spoken of a young player is, the longer they spend away from the club, the less likely they are to make it.
It seems to me that if someone like MacGillivray is brought in and McCrorie is shipped out on loan again, his chances of fulfilling his long-term goal of becoming the first-choice stopper at Rangers will continue to weaken.
Fellow Rangers News writer James Black is of a different opinion, though.
He said: “The signing of McGillivray doesn’t need to be the end for McCrorie at Ibrox – and if anything it could actually benefit the keeper. With Foderingham, Alnwick and Firth all out of contract in the summer, McCrorie would either need to be promoted to Allan McGregor’s understudy or someone new would have to come in.”
“Adding McGillivray means that the Gers can send Robby out on loan again and let him continue to play regular games and gain valuable experience. After making his way up through the leagues with his various loan spells in recent seasons, McCrorie will likely go to a Premiership or title-challenging Championship side next as he works his way to eventually becoming Rangers number one.
“If he does spend next season out on loan, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him return to Ibrox in 2021 to challenge for the gloves after McGregor’s likely retirement and really start to stake a claim to be the first-choice – and even then he’ll still only be 23. Robby has years ahead of him to establish himself at Ibrox and his loan spells away should only help to make him a better player.
“Although four years out on loan seems like a lot, coming back to Rangers with well in excess of 100 league appearances under his belt should really help him push on to become McGregor’s long-term replacement – regardless of who arrives at Ibrox over the coming months.”
McCrorie was on the wrong end of a defeat on Saturday afternoon, as Partick Thistle came from behind to beat his adopted side Queen of the South, 2-1.
What do you think signing McGillivray would mean for McCrorie? Let us know on the forum or on Twitter @rangersnewsuk.
