Filip Helander admits he would consider a return to Malmo after a difficult couple of seasons at Scottish Premiership giants Rangers.
While Ryan Kent did not have to wait long to find employment away from Ibrox – joining Fenerbahce earlier this month – the wheels are not moving quite so quickly for Filip Helander.
Perhaps that is to be expected.
After all, the £3 million signing from Bologna had made just six Premiership appearances for Rangers since the start of 2021/22, those long-standing injury issues meaning his departure upon the expiration of his contract was more or less an inevitability.
“Yeah absolutely (it’s been a tough few years). I haven’t been able to play much football. It’s clear, that takes a toll on you mentally,” Helander tells Fotbolskanalen, his four-year spell as a Rangers player officially coming to an end this week.
“You go and wait and hope, then things don’t go as you want and so on. Of course, it has been (difficult). But that’s football.
“I have had a good time otherwise in life but, of course, I would have liked my football to be different.”
Filip Helander is leaving Rangers this week
What the future holds for Helander remains to be seen.
Malmo have kept the door ajar for the Sweden international to re-join the club where he made his name between 2011 and 2015, but the recent acquisition of fellow veteran Pontus Jansson from Brentford complicates matters.
Is there room in this town for the both of them?
“If there is interest from both sides, it is something I will think about,” Helander added when quizzed on a potential return to Malmo.
“I’m from here. My family is from here. And Malmo has developed incredibly as a club. Only by being here have I been able to see it.”
Rangers are yet to bring in a replacement for the left-footed Helander at Ibrox. Though that is not for a lack of trying. Jonathan Panzo of Nottingham Forest appears to be Mick Beale’s first-choice for the role, but The Herald are keen to point out that a potential £2 million move is anything but ‘imminent’.
