Phase one of Rangers rebuild has not been the success that Philippe Clement would have hoped it would be after a difficult summer and start to the season.
With Jimmy Thelin undermining every excuse about new players needing time to gel and time to settle at Aberdeen, the manager can count himself lucky that there isn’t a structured football hierarchy behind the scenes at Ibrox to relieve him of his duties and appoint a replacement.
The transfer window can’t open soon enough with a squad still needing a lot of work doing to it and, with eight Rangers players’ contracts set to expire in the summer, more decisions need to be made.
Rangers players who are out of contract in the summer of 2025
This is what Nils Koppen should do with those whose current deals are ticking away.
Here are the players whose contracts are up in the summer of 2025:
| Name | Age (Present) | Decision |
| Adam Devine | 21 | Release |
| Alex Lowry | 21 | Release |
| Cole McKinnon | 21 | Release |
| Leon Balogun | 36 (37 in July) | Release |
| Tom Lawrence | 30 (31 in Jan) | Release |
| Oscar Cortes | 20 | Buy (Obligation) |
| Neraysho Kasanwirjo | 22 | Cancel loan – if long-term injury |
| Vaclav Cerny | 27 | Offer to buy |
Oscar Cortes will have his renewed because Rangers have an obligation to buy the Colombian winger for around £4m, but the option to buy for Neraysho Kasanwirjo will need more serious consideration given the knee injury he suffered on international duty with Netherlands’ Under-21s.
One of the problems Rangers have is a lack of homegrown players in the squad to tick the UEFA quotas, Cole McKinnon, Adam Devine and Alex Lowry all have little chance of playing in the first team and have made it to 21 without ever featuring regularly.
With Koppen issuing a thinly veiled threat for those in the academy, it is unlikely that they will have their respective stays extended.
Tom Lawrence and Leon Balogun are firm favourites of Clement, however, they can’t be relied upon in terms of fitness, and their wages could be put to much better use.
Should Rangers try and buy Vaclav Cerny?
Where would Rangers be without Vaclav Cerny? With seven goals and five assists in 19 appearances, the Czechia winger has the end product that has been sorely missed in recent years other than from Abdallah Sima.
The difference is that Cerny is always available too. It would be a huge surprise if Koppen hasn’t already enquired how much it would cost to make the transfer a permanent one.
A reported fee of “at least” £3.8m is a relative bargain for Cerny with a proven track record.
As with in the summer, Rangers need to get more right than wrong in terms of new arrivals, if they don’t, the gap will only widen.
