Bailey Rice has put pen to paper on a new deal at Rangers, but speculation over his future does not end here.
The midfielder was due to leave Rangers as a free agent when his previous contract ran out at the end of the month, but he has now committed his future to the Light Blues.
Rice has put pen to paper on a one-year deal with the Gers, who hold the option to extend the deal by another year, thus effectively keeping him at Ibrox until 2028.
He was not short of options before committing his future to the Premiership heavyweights, with Ajax and Schalke among those keen to secure his services.
However, Danny Rohl seemingly managed to convince the teenager to stay in Glasgow in one of his final acts as the Rangers head coach, before departing for Red Bull Salzburg last week.
Now that Danny Rohl has left Rangers, how would you rate his time at the club?
Derek McInnes arrival halts Kilmarnock loan progress
The news about Rice agreeing to sign a new deal at Rangers emerged last week.
While a development blueprint had initially been mapped out for Rice, managerial changes at Ibrox have directly disrupted those short-term plans.
The recruitment team originally intended to sanction a temporary exit for the 19-year-old to help him gain regular first-team minutes elsewhere.
Kilmarnock were widely understood to be leading the race to secure the deep-lying midfielder on a season-long loan deal.
The move to Rugby Park was seemingly advanced following the phenomenal success winger Findlay Curtis enjoyed under Neil McCann last term.
However, the appointment of Derek McInnes as the new Rangers boss has completely paused the temporary switch for the foreseeable future.
Rangers Review, who reported Killie’s interest in taking Rice on loan, has now claimed that McInnes’ arrival could alter the loan plans until after pre-season.
What would your concerns be about Derek McInnes replacing Danny Rohl?
Massive pre-season opportunity for Rice at Rangers
The sudden managerial twist presents a massive, unexpected silver lining for the teenage midfield engine ahead of the new campaign.
McInnes is a manager notorious for giving hard-working, disciplined young domestic players a genuine, fair crack of the whip in the first team.
Rice will now report for pre-season training on Thursday with a clean slate and a golden opportunity to directly impress the incoming management team.
If he shines in the summer friendlies, the starlet might just convince McInnes that he is already robust enough to skip a development loan entirely, despite an injury-ridden campaign last term.
