Oxford United boss Karl Robinson has admitted he was shocked that his club managed to pull off a late loan swoop for Rangers winger Brandon Barker [Oxford Mail].
Barker joined the Gers in the summer of 2019 and has struggled to make an impact at Ibrox, scoring three times and failing to register an assist from 26 appearances in all competitions.
However, the 24-year-old has an impressive background, having won the Manchester City Academy Players’ Player of the Year award and represented England at youth international level.
He may have been struggling for game time at Ibrox, but Robinson was still surprised that a player of his ability was available and willing to move to EFL League One.
“Brandon’s an incredible talent – I’m really shocked we got this one done,” said Robinson [Oxford Mail]. “I didn’t think he was ever within our reach.”
“Brandon was No 1 on our list, but the one we thought we weren’t going to get.
“In the last three or four days it escalated into a possibility.”
It was a surprise for Rangers fans to see Barker head for the exit too, given that there had been no speculation about a loan spell until the final hours of deadline day.
His Ibrox career isn’t necessarily over as he is contracted until the end of next season.
However, as we’ve seen with the likes of Greg Docherty and Jamie Murphy in the recent past, strong performances on loan in the English third tier don’t guarantee you’ll be given another chance in the first team upon your return to Rangers.
The Us were in EFL Trophy action on Tuesday night but the fixture came too soon for Barker, who’ll instead be hoping to make his debut in a league fixture away at Doncaster on Saturday afternoon.
Barker will be hoping to feature more regularly for Oxford than a 20-year-old Gers defender who hasn’t yet appeared for the Premiership club he joined in October.
