Exciting young Rangers player Leon King could make his Premiership debut this week.
King is one of the brightest prospects to emerge from the club’s Academy for some time, with the Gers reportedly fighting off interest from Premier League clubs when he signed his first professional contract back in March 2020 [Glasgow Times].
The 17-year-old defender has had a difficult season in some respects, given that his place in the first-team bubble restricted his availability for B team friendlies during the first half of the season, before the tightening of restrictions around the turn of the year saw B team fixtures halted completely.
He has had the benefit of close to a full season of training with the senior squad, though, with many positive matchday experiences along the way.
King made his Rangers debut in a League Cup clash against Falkirk in November, playing the final 19 minutes of a 4-0 win, while he has also made the bench for several high-profile fixtures.
For example, he was involved on a handful of occasions in the Europa League and he made the squad for the 4-1 Old Firm win in the Premiership earlier this month.
There’s every chance that a first senior league appearance will round things off nicely this week, too.
The champions face Livingston at the Tony Macaroni Arena on Wednesday and Aberdeen at Ibrox on Saturday, and a debut is possible in either match.
Steven Gerrard is currently short on options at the back, with Leon Balogun and Filip Helander both recently joining Nikola Katic in the treatment room, while George Edmundson has been out on loan.
Connor Goldson and Jack Simpson will almost certainly start the final two fixtures but King is set to at least make the squad on both occasions and Gerrard has previous in terms of handing out late-season opportunities to youngsters off the bench.
Dapo Mebude spent a short time with the senior group before making his Premiership bow on the final day of the 2018/19 campaign at Kilmarnock and given that King is so highly rated, the manager will surely want to provide evidence that he will receive first-team playing opportunities when circumstances permit.
In other news, Rangers are expected to receive a major boost in two weeks’ time.
