If Rangers are to have a successful player trading model, developing our own players like Ross McCausland or buying talented youngsters before selling them at a profit is a necessity, not losing them for development fees.
In recent seasons, we’ve seen three of our best from the academy in Billy Gilmour, Rory Wilson and Dire Mebude all leave for relative peanuts and Nathan Young-Coombes return to England for a nominal fee too.
Rangers managed to persuade Alex Lowry and Leon King to turn down the bright lights of the Premier League and they now face a similar fight for Ross McCausland.
Rangers loss if Ross McCausland leaves on the cheap
Looking across social media, there seems to be an apathy amongst fans about the potential departure of the Northern Ireland international.
Brentford were the first team linked and now Roma and Atalanta have been credited with an interest too, maybe Fabrizio Romano advertising McCausland’s contract status has raised their attention.
For Rangers, it isn’t as simple as just losing Ross McCausland as a back up winger.
Yes, he might not be a key player now or even look like he could become a mainstay in the first team but you have to look at the bigger picture.
If the 20-year old leaves, Philippe Clement would only have Scott Wright and Abdallah Sima as natural wingers.
One of them isn’t good enough and the other probably won’t be here next season.
The Gers boss has already shown the system that he prefers to use and it relies on width and width from players who can spot a pass and beat a defender.
Rangers, in short, would have to replace Ross McCausland.
But with who?
Good wingers are in short supply, there are some kicking about the free agent market, none of which would count as home grown though.
The elephant in the room.
Rangers have to return to shopping local for talent
Rangers have neglected shopping local for too long and it should be a key objective in the next two transfer windows.
Currently on the B list, McCausland could be used on the A list and count as a home grown player with the manager knowing that he can be trusted after his recent displays.
For example, swap McCausland for Kemar Roofe and it means that Ridvan Yilmaz can be added.
Having two left backs available might be useful, you never know when one might get injured….
This isn’t the only issue though.
It takes a lot of hard work and an element of luck to get a player from the academy through to the first team, there is a reason why the success rate is so low.
If Rangers can’t persuade Ross McCausland to stay, they need to go back to the drawing board and look at who might be next on the list to make it, and there are no guarantees.
Stephen Kelly is another great example.
He barely put a foot wrong on the rare occasions that he played and was arguably our best player during pre-season in 2021 and yet he was never seen again.
Nobody is telling me that he couldn’t have done a better job in midfield than James Sands.
John Bennett spoke in length about getting the player trading model right and Rangers have to start trusting our own players more, with the future Ross McCausland being the first real test.
