Jon Flanagan finds new club after Ibrox exit in summer
Former Rangers defender Jon Flanagan has officially joined Belgian side Royal Charleroi Sporting Club after being released by the Ibrox club during the summer.
Flanagan arrived at Rangers in June 2018 to become one of Gerrard’s first acquisitions at manager, but struggled for game time in his two seasons with the club.
The 27-year-old was a former teammate of Steven Gerrard at Liverpool and was able to play on either side of the defence.
After the conclusion of the 2019-20 season, it was announced that Flanagan would be leaving Ibrox and after almost six months without a club, he now agreed to join the Belgian side, who currently sit top of the Jupiler Pro League.
Announcing the move on Twitter, the club wrote: “It looks like we have a new zebra here. Welcome, Jon Flanagan.”
Competition for places
Despite being a versatile player who could fill in at either right or left back, the consistency and attacking potency of Borna Barisic and James Tavernier meant that the path to regular minutes for Flanagan at Ibrox was always likely to be blocked.
While the Barisic and Tavernier have provided 24 and 41 assists in all competitions respectively since the former Liverpool man arrived at the club, Flanagan managed just one (via Transfermarkt).
After allowing him to leave over the summer, Gerrard acted to bring in Calvin Bassey as a back up to Barisic, who has suffered with injuries in the past, and the former Leicester City academy graduate has impressed.
In his five league appearances so far this season, the 20-year-old averaged one key pass and one completed dribble per match, in addition to three successful tackles and two clearances (via WhoScored).
Given his age and skill set it was likely that Bassey would offer a more appropriate back up than Flanagan, and that looks to be proving true so far this season.
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