Rangers exodus on cards as nine players able to talk to other clubs in January
Up to nine Rangers players could well enter talks over an Ibrox exit in January with their contracts nearing their end, according to the Daily Record.
Michael Beale has already managed to tie down Ianis Hagi and Leon King to new deals at Auchenhowie but he still has a lot of out-of-contract professionals to sort out.
Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent are likely to take priority in negotiations given their importance to the side right now but both will have suitors from elsewhere for their services.
Scott Arfield, Ryan Jack and Steven Davis all present something of an issue for Beale with a large portion of his midfield contingent set to leave if nothing changes on the contract front.
Swedish international Filip Helander, goalkeeper Allan McGregor, James Sands and Malik Tillman are all in the same bracket but the latter could be one who Rangers go and sign permanently if Bayern Munich don’t want to keep him.
Clearout
With the exception of Morelos, Kent and perhaps Arfield after his recent goal-scoring exploits, none of the aforementioned players are of huge importance to the club.
Tillman and Sands are a different kettle of fish being contracted to other clubs and on loan at Rangers so they could easily be targets for the summer if they don’t resign with their parent clubs.
But McGregor, Helander, Jack and Davis could all be allowed to leave and the Light Blues would not be massively worse off as a result after some summer reinforcements are made.
The club really have to try and move some of these players on to make room for either academy graduates to thrive, such as Alex Lowry, or for new signings to be made within the budget restrictions.
Beale needs to find his ruthless side in the boardroom and admit that some of these players are simply not good enough to keep up with Celtic and they have to go as a result.
In other Rangers news, there is some very encouraging injury news regarding this Auchenhowie man after a turbulent year in Glasgow.