Rangers exit appears for Stephen Kelly as Livingston eye late move
Rangers midfielder Stephen Kelly could be set to leave Ibrox before the1 September transfer deadline with Livingston keen, according to the Daily Record.
The 22-year-old is a product of the club’s academy but he has never made a single appearance in the Premiership with his only games in royal blue coming in the domestic cup competitions and one solitary Europa League match.
He has been involved in Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s first team squad so far this season but he is yet to feature with the summer recruits holding their own and Kelly could now be allowed to leave.
The Scottish Under-21 international is in the final year of his Rangers contract and Livingston hope to take advantage of that to sign him for a cut-price deal before the 1 September deadline strikes.
Loan spells at Ross County and Salford City saw him impress at both clubs but he has not done enough to force van Bronckhorst to make a change to his plans.
Standards
A club that is challenging to be the champions of Scotland and hoping to shock some of Europe’s biggest clubs in the Champions League can’t afford to carry around deadwood players anymore.
Every player in the squad has to be ready to play a role in whatever game may be around the corner and it was obvious that Kelly is not up to the standard required to be able to do so.
If Livi are willing to pay a sum of money to sign him in the next 48 hours then there should be no hesitation from the Light Blues to let him go as long as they can get a sell-on percentage included.
Kelly may never sell for a big transfer fee but it is always worth having some clause in there that entitles the club to a portion of it should such a thing occur.
It might give the boss some wiggle room to make one more signing at the last minute but it has to be the right player.
In other Rangers news, this Gers man has been offered to Fenerbahce by his agent as his Ibrox future hangs by a thread.