Michael Beale shares official Rangers update on contract situations of Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent and co
Michael Beale has announced that no Rangers players who are out of contract this summer have been formally offered a new deal yet.
The club have got several first-team stars out of contract at Ibrox in the coming months, including Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Jack and Allan McGregor.
Speculation has been rife about their futures and whether or not deals are close or in place, but Beale has revealed that there have been no formal offers made to any players and there likely won’t be until the season comes to an end in May, while speaking in his press conference (2 March).
“All the players that are out of contract – no one has been offered one. Not one player has had an offer put to them,” he said, as quoted by Chris Jack for Herald Scotland.
“No one has had an discussion where we’ve said, ‘we’ll offer you this and this’. Why? When I came in it was a little bit uncertain on one or two and I wanted to see the season through.
“That doesn’t mean I haven’t spoken to the players. At the moment they’re focused, working hard and getting on with it.
“But we’ve not formally made an offer to any of the players who are out of contact because I want to see certain things against certain opponents at certain levels to make sure they can be a part of it going forward. That’s where we’re at.
“I’ve made the decisions I want to make.”
Decisions
There are a lot of big decisions that need to be made this summer at Rangers, and the contracts of first-team players are up there among the top.
Leaving things until so late in the season seems like an odd decision from Beale though, because there is no guarantee that these things go his or the club’s way.
If he decides he wants to keep Morelos and then they talk about wages and they’re way off the mark, the club could run out of time to re-sign him and end up having to chase a replacement they hadn’t planned for which would eat into the budget.
These decisions should have been made one way or another months ago, with negotiations either well underway or plans in place for the next step.
It seems Rangers are standing still instead of making moves to improve quickly, and considering we’re already quite a way behind Celtic that should be a big worry for fans.
In other Rangers news, another contract decision must be made to avoid a repeat situation next season with this star.