Tony Weston returns to Rangers early after Partick Thistle loan spell
Tony Weston has seen his loan moved at Partick Thistle ended early and he has now returned to Auchenhowie, Rangers confirmed on Friday (6 January).
The 19-year-old had signed a season-long loan with the Scottish Championship side in June after he netted an eye-watering 35 goals for the Light Blues’ B team last season.
He made his senior debut for Rangers in the final game of last season away at Hearts but Giovanni van Bronckhorst opted to loan him out this season to get regular game time at a high level.
But he has not carried that form onto the 2022-23 campaign having scored just once in all competitions for Thistle this season, in a 3-0 Scottish Cup win against Kelty Hearts.
Weston did not start a single game for Partick Thistle during his loan spell and the longest he spent on the field was 27 minutes in a League Cup match against Fraserburgh in July.
Step back
He may have lit the Lowland League up with the B team but the jump up to the Championship is actually rather enormous and a bridge too far for Weston at this stage in his career.
With hindsight, it would have been smart to send the 19-year-old to a League One or League Two side where he could have slowly built himself up and not have his confidence crushed.
But the January transfer window, and the recall option in the initial loan deal, means that he has a chance for redemption this season if Michael Beale can find him a better fit for the second half of the season.
Somewhere he can start matches would be a good place to begin and he has to start doing so to be able to eventually fulfil his potential.
He could definitely be a star of the future for Rangers but if he doesn’t get regular games at senior level then he won’t get anywhere near his ceiling.
In other Rangers news, talks are underway south of the border to try and keep this Ibrox-linked player at his current club.