Barry Ferguson warns Rangers set for ‘big loss’ as Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent to leave on free transfer
Barry Ferguson is expecting Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos to leave Rangers on a free transfer this summer in what would be a “big loss”.
Both Kent and Morelos are in the final months of their contract at Ibrox and able to leave for free in the summer should a new deal not be agreed beforehand.
Manager Michael Beale has confirmed that no players have been offered new terms formally yet and won’t be until the end of the season, and former captain Ferguson told Go Radio (8 March) that he is surprised that the club have allowed the situation to drag on in the way they have.
“Out of the nine players I think one or two would be kept,” he said.
“Sometimes you need to start afresh. Similarly to what Postecoglou did when he came in. It was a massive turnaround of players that doesn’t happen overnight.
“I’m not saying it will be as much at Rangers but I could see a number of players leaving and quite a few coming in – also guys in contract not just the out of contract players.”
“They allowed it last year with Connor Goldson and I thought there was no chance but they announced it. I thought surely they will sit down with Ryan Kent and Morelos now as to not allow this situation to happen again. It could have gone against them.
“They’re in the last twelve months of their deals now. They’re going to walk out the door on a free. It’s not so bad on Morelos because you only spent £1m on him but they spent £7m on Kent so it’s a big loss.”
Strange
Considering the amount of issues we’ve had with contracts in recent years, with the likes of Joe Aribo leaving in a cut-price deal and Goldson being on the verge of an exit, it’s really weird that the club have taken this approach.
Obviously Beale wanted to see who was committed to the club before offering them a new deal, but by this point he should already know who he wants to keep around and who he is willing to let go.
The club should already be planning to make signings and rebuild the squad in the summer transfer window, and to do that they need to know who is going to stay and who is going to leave.
It now seems far more likely that players leave than stay put, especially the likes of Kent and Morelos where they shouldn’t be without offers going forward because of their quality.
Rangers must prepare for their potential exit, even if they want to keep them, because there is no guarantee they stick around having left it so late regardless of what the club want to do now.
In other Rangers news, the club really want to sign a European centre-back as rumours swirl that he’s already been to Glasgow.