By George Overhill

2nd May, 2023 | 7:10am

Rangers transfer news as Sky Sports pundit drops verdict on £5million Malik Tillman deal amid predicted exodus after Celtic defeat

There is “no chance” Rangers should be signing Malik Tillman from Bayern Munich for £5million amid major departures from Ibrox, says Kris Boyd.

The American is in the running to be the Gers player of the year, against captain James Tavernier and, bizarrely Borna Barisic, after scoring 12 goals in 43 total appearances in Scotland this year.

He is available for £5million if the German giants allow him to leave and manager Michael Beale suggested that was likely to happen when he told Sky Sports Scotland on 21 April that everyone who played against St Mirren six days earlier was likely to be at Ibrox next season.

But Sky Sports pundit Boyd, who believes there are only four current squad members who are definitely remaining for next year, is anything but convinced.

He said in his column for the Scottish Sun: “Right now, I’d say only FOUR players would be stick-ons for a place in Beale’s squad beyond the summer. James Tavernier, Nico Raskin, Connor Goldson and Todd Cantwell are those men.

“The rest? I am not sure about — for various reasons. Some are out of contract, some are getting to the end of their careers, and others are just not good enough.

“Then you have Malik Tillman, currently on loan from Bayern Munich. Would you pay £5million to get him on a permanent deal? Absolutely no chance.”

Harsh

Boyd is rightly scathing about the recruitment at Rangers in recent years in his column, but if a player who is many supporters’ pick for player of the season is absolutely off the table for that price then this club is in dire straights.

After another defeat to Celtic at Hampden Park on Sunday (30 April), where Tillman was lost to injury in the first half, Beale and company do have to be ruthless in their assessments of the squad.

The 20-year-old has divided opinion at times, but as the options for the end-of-year award shows, you’d be hard pressed to find many better this season.

The finances aren’t expected to be bountiful this summer but if the manager is promising the biggest rebuild in years [Sky Sports] there must be something available to him.

A huge haul of free transfers is unlikely to be enough to turn the tables on Celtic who now appear odds on to win a domestic treble.

So money is going to have to be spent, and unless the recruitment department are sure they can find a sure thing with that money elsewhere it would be losing a fair chunk of the production to let Tillman head back to Germany.

In other Rangers news, “lavish wages” will provide millions towards the budget for the summer rebuild according to Tom English.