Jermain Defoe set to leave Rangers player/coach role
Rangers player/coach Jermain Defoe is set to leave Ibrox soon having made just two appearances this season, according to The Athletic.
At 39 years of age, Defoe doesn’t have long left at the highest level, if he continues playing at all, and he hasn’t been involved under Giovanni van Bronckhorst since his arrival.
The Gers will have Cedric Itten to call upon up front with the Swiss striker returning from his loan at Bundesliga bottom club Greuther Furth.
Overdue
Maybe this has been coming for some time, but Defoe’s time at Rangers and maybe even career is approaching the end.
The 39-year-old joined the club on loan from Bournemouth in 2018 and scored 32 goals in his time at Ibrox, helping to win the Scottish Premiership last season.
But his playtime has decreased year on year and now he rarely gets a look in with Alfredo Morelos leading the line.
And now Itten is returning to Scotland for the remainder of the season, things have got even harder for Defoe to work his way into van Bronckhorst’s team.
Having moved into a coaching role more recently, he will have no doubt helped the strikers across the club, from first-team to youth teams, and he has certainly left his mark on the club.
It is unknown now if Defoe will sign a deal elsewhere but even if he doesn’t, he can retire knowing he was one of the best strikers of his generation.
Scoring 305 goals in 756 games is no record to be sniffed at and Rangers contributed to that record.
In other Rangers news, Graeme Murty has made an admission on the Rangers transfer blunder.