Rangers must give Leon King loan away from Ibrox to get valuable game time
Giovanni van Bronckhorst has worked wonders to tie down Connor Goldson to a new contract at Rangers but that could be an issue for another defender.
The 29-year-old was thought to be leaving the club on a free transfer but the entire Light Blues fanbase went ballistic on 1 June when the club announced the Englishman was staying for another four years.
While that is fantastic news for van Bronckhorst and the immediate fortunes of the Gers team, it will hamper the opportunities that teenager Leon King might get at the highest level of Scottish football.
The 17-year-old did get the odd appearance in the famous blue of Rangers during the 2021-22 campaign but he largely spent his time as a substitute or playing for the B team in the Lowland League.
He would have been hoping that Leon Balogun’s exit from Ibrox would have opened a door for him to feature more often in the 2022-23 season but that exit has been counteracted by the arrival on a pre-contract agreement of John Souttar from Hearts.
King is at the stage in his development now that he needs a lot of games at a high level which gives van Bronckhorst a rather awkward ultimatum.
The Dutchman needs to make a decision to either trust in him to play the majority of games or offer him out on loan to clubs in the Premiership and Championship to keep his upward trajectory going.
He, much like Alex Lowry who also burst onto the scene last season, are approaching a very crucial year in their careers and it could be the club’s decisions in this transfer window that determines how their futures may pan out.
In other Rangers news, Allan McGregor has been the subject of a very lucrative offer from a club in the Middle East as he delays his decision on his Gers future.