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Rangers slammed for releasing 'Quality' player they reportedly want back
Kenny McLean’s former coach David Longwell believes that Rangers made an error allowing the Norwich City man to leave as a young player.
The Scottish Sun reported last week that the Gers could move for McLean in January, a player they allowed to leave the club in 2008.
Longwell, who worked with the 28-year-old at St Mirren, thinks that Rangers made a mistake letting him go before he had developed physically.
“Some players take a knock when they are released by the Old Firm and can fall out of the game,” he told Lanarkshire Live Sport (via Daily Record).
“I think Kenny just got on with it and said it is what it is. We signed him when he was released by Rangers, and I guess if you look back now it’s been a mistake on their part, because he hadn’t developed physically yet.
“I don’t think it knocked him personally and he had a belief that even if it didn’t work for him there he would make it. He’s got that quality that means he was always going to progress. You could tell back then he was going to go on and play at a high level.”
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McLean has become a good player in England, comfortable on the ball and valuable defensively. On average, he completes 42.3 passes per 90, as well as 1.1 tackles and 1.3 clearances per match (via WhoScored).
However, he is not a player that moves the needle for Rangers, given the options they have at their disposal. In the last season and a half he has made just one assist, as made just 0.6 key passes per match in the Premier League (via WhoScored).
While Steven Davis and Scott Arfield may be in their 30s, Ryan Jack, Glen Kamara, Bongani Zungu, Joe Aribo and Ianis Hagi offer great options moving forward.
If Arfield and Davis were to move on next summer, a move for McLean as a consistent back-up would make sense, but this is not a player who will prove a game-changer for Steven Gerrard’s midfield.
In other Rangers news, Ibrox view: What can Bongani Zungu bring to the Rangers midfield?