New York City tweet bizarre video as Rangers terminate James Sands loan
New York City Football Club have shared a bizarre video of midfielder James Sands returning to them, after Rangers decided to terminate his loan spell at Ibrox.
The American joined the club under Giovanni van Bronckhorst on an 18-month loan deal from the MLS and had played in midfield and central defence since his arrival last year in January.
There was a £5m ($6m) clause to make the deal permanent, according to MLS journalist Tom Bogert in June 2022, but because the player had been deemed surplus to requirements under Michael Beale since his appointment, the club decided to terminate his loan deal.
And in a bizarre and strange video package on Twitter [1 March], NCYFC seemed to be celebrating the midfielder’s return considering Sands has endured a rather dreadful spell as a Rangers player.
The 22-year-old featured in 26 games for the Gers in all competitions this season since his move, failing to register a single goal or an assist.
And since Beale’s appointment in late November, the player has only made one start, against Partick Thistle last month in a 3-2 win.
Sands has incredibly struggled to convince fans that he is of the required level to be a regular at Ibrox, and his stint in central defence earlier this season led to countless mistakes and poor results.
It is increasingly bizarre that his parent club are celebrating his return to the club, as they have potentially missed out on £5m which was the required agreement fee to make any potential loan deal permanent.
With Beale possessing so much dead wood in his bloated squad, getting rid of Sands so soon made perfect sense as the club are about to kick off a huge summer rebuild in the coming months.
£5m is a lot of money in the Scottish Premiership and to Rangers, and there was no way the club were going to pay that fee for a player who has struggled to impress ever since he walked through the Ibrox doors in January 2022.
In other Rangers news, veteran ace “almost certain” to leave Ibrox this summer according to one report.