Rangers will need to strengthen in the summer transfer window with Philippe Clement looking to add younger and more dynamic players.
The manager has been frustrated with the number of injuries he has had and has also been unhappy about having six players whose contracts run out at the end of the season.
With a need for domestic players also important, Rangers should be looking no further than Aberdeen’s powerhouse midfielder Connor Barron as the perfect option for Philippe Clement.
READ MORE: Rangers confirmed signings, transfers in and out, loan exits, releases for 2023/24
Rangers move for Connor Barron is a no-brainer
If there were any doubts, the Scotland Under-21 international’s display against Celtic in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup on Saturday should put those to bed.
He was more than a match for Celtic’s first choice midfield and spent large periods of the match dictating the play and tempo for his side.
It was one of the noticeable weakness from Rangers engine room in recent weeks was the number of second balls that were being lost and how vulnerable they were in transition.
Mohamed Diomande returned to good effect to provide support to John Lundstram and there was a noticeable difference.
Hearts best attacks came from Rangers players making mistakes rather than because the structure wasn’t right.
Barron is exactly the type of player who is useful in this situation, he also demonstrated his passing range at Hampden too.
When you look at Barron’s age, profile, contract status and Philippe Clement’s need to bring more Scottish players to Rangers, it makes a lot of sense.
Barron has played a straight bat amid all the speculation after a £500,000 bid from Swansea in January and is focused on the remaining fixtures, telling the Press and Journal:
“It’s out of your hands when it come to transfer windows as you just have to sit there and see what happens.
“It was just the last day of the window that the issue came up and the next day it was closed.
“So as soon as the window shut then the focus is fully right back onto the football.
“I’m an Aberdeen player and I just want to push on to the end of the season and see how far we can go.
“There are no distractions for me at the moment as speculation is just part of the job you have to deal with.
“I’m an Aberdeen boy and I’ll concentrate on giving 100% for the club.
“My agent is still in talks with the club and you have take things like the manager’s situation into account but that’s for a later date.”
Barron can be instant Ryan Jack replacement
As well as Connor Barron’s obvious quality, Philippe Clement will see several players leaving this summer with Ryan Jack in particular a player who needs to be replaced.
We need another defensive midfielder, but more importantly we need home-grown players so that there is more senior and experienced depth for European competitions.
There have been a few players who have slipped by in the past but all of them needed either a transfer fee or Rangers were already well equipped in that specific area.
For Josh Doig, there was Calvin Bassey and Borna Barisic and for Aaron Hickey, there was Nathan Patterson and James Tavernier.
Lewis Ferguson is the obvious one that got away, but again, Rangers had a squad full of midfielders when he signed for Bologna, even if room should have been made for him.
Barron might not be as good a player as Ferguson, however, he has the potential to be better than Jack, is younger and will be available an awful lot more.
