Michael Beale reveals ‘significant’ Rangers rebuild plans after Viaplay Cup final defeat
Michael Beale admits Rangers are in for a “significant” rebuild in the transfer market this summer, after their damaging Viaplay Cup final defeat to Celtic.
The club currently have a whopping 33 players as part of their first-team squad, although many of them have been hampered by injuries over the course of the last year.
The Athletic reported on 22 February that the club are on the hunt for five new additions this summer as Beale looks to match the untold quality of his fierce rivals.
And speaking [via Glasgow Evening Times, 3 March] ahead of Rangers’ clash with Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday, Beale admitted the Gers will need to be “ruthless” rather than reckless in hitting their aims for a significant rebuild.
He said: “We’ve had one window and we will have a significant one in the summer.
“Moving forward we need to turn things over.
“That’s fine, that’s natural. Players have their cycles in clubs. We’ve got a lot of experience in the room who’ve done some really good things so you treat them well.
“But if you feel the club needs to move forward… There is a difference between being ruthless and reckless.
“It would be foolish of me to discard with over a third of the season to go. There is still a trophy to fight for. It would be foolish to do that to players who have been good to the club and don’t deserve that.
Huge summer
Losing to Celtic in the manner they did on Sunday was a crushing blow for Beale and his men, a defeat which highlighted the gulf in class between the two Old Firm rivals.
And if the Gers are to bridge that huge gap next summer, then they will certainly need to be ruthless in their transfer business this summer. 33 players on their books reek of mismanagement and poor recruitment, that number significantly needs to be cut down.
In order to challenge and maintain huge performance levels and motivation across the pitch, the Gers will need a maximum of 23-25 players in the squad to go full tilt in a challenge against their arch-rivals.
The club have already been linked with some exciting names, especially on the goalkeeping front in Preston North End’s Freddie Woodman with Allan McGregor expected to depart this summer. Signing a new number one should be at the top of their huge agenda.
The target for the club is to match those lofty heights they reached during the 2021 Scottish Premiership triumph and to do that, Beale will certainly need five to six quality additions, especially if key stars Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent leave.
It will be incredibly tough to replace such quality though which means the club should move swiftly and efficiently in seeking out key targets.
In other Rangers news, the club are in line for a multi-million windfall from the Premier League after a £10m Auchenhowie milestone was reached.