By Jonty Banks

24th May, 2023 | 5:10pm

Rangers transfer news as Michael Beale may now have £15m jackpot ready to go

Michael Beale may now have a £15million jackpot to play with in the summer transfer window after Rangers revealed what the future held for several first-team players on Tuesday.

The club released an official statement (23 May) that confirmed five senior first-team players would be leaving Ibrox at the end of the season.

The quintet of Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent, Allan McGregor, Scott Arfield and Filip Helander will all depart on free transfers when their contracts expire in the coming weeks – leaving Rangers with a sizeable war chest for the upcoming transfer window.

BBC Sport journalist Tom English shared on 8 April that Rangers could have as much as a £15million wage kitty to spend on new transfers in the upcoming months after the departures of players on lucrative contracts.

And Beale will certainly need every penny he can get his hands on if he wishes to close the gap to fierce rivals Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

Although the Gers boss has actually closed the gap from nine to eight points in the league since he took the reins from Giovanni van Bronckhorst at Ibrox, the gap between the Old Firm rivals is still evident.

So far this season, Rangers have managed to pick up just one victory against Ange Postecoglous’s side – the recent 3-0 victory – while losing four of the other five head to heads, at an aggregate scoreline of 12 goals to five.

The club already look to be making their stamp on the upcoming transfer window, with deals for Norwich’s Kieran Dowell and Chelsea’s Dujon Sterling already close to completion, as well as Jose Cifuentes and Jack Butland also being in the pipeline.

Losing players such as Morelos and Kent, who are likely to be among the highest-paid players at Ibrox, is a double-edged sword.

Obviously, losing the services of these two top-class players on free transfers is not a glowing indictment of the previous regime under Ross Wilson, but at least it can allow Beale to put his own stamp on Rangers without too many financial restraints.

The reported £15million transfer jackpot could be a game-changer for the Gers this summer, and Beale will be excited at the prospect of bringing fresh faces into his first-team squad.

In other Rangers news, an Old Firm transfer battle is now on the cards for a target who is proving highly-impressive in front of goal.