Rangers may sell John Lundstram and Borna Barisic this summer to avoid Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent mistake – Barry Ferguson
Barry Ferguson believes Rangers have learned their lessons over allowing player contracts to run down and could look to sell Borna Barisic and John Lundstram to avoid such repeats.
Speaking to The Go Football Radio Show (4 August), Ferguson argued that it cannot be allowed to happen again and thinks Rangers will look to do business if the pair want to leave this window or if the club themselves are willing to cash in on them now after allowing both Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos to run down their contracts and depart.
The Daily Record reported on 3 June that the Gers will be making a decision on the pair this summer and after Michael Beale has already added nine players to his squad, experienced stars such as Lundstram, Barisic, Glen Kamara and Scott Wright could all leave the club in order for the club to balance the books.
Ferguson said: “You’ve got Lundstram and Barisic who were probably up there as two of the highest earners going into the final year of their contracts. They (Rangers) cannot allow that – and I think they know that – to happen.
“I think if Rangers don’t want to keep them or if Rangers want to keep them and the players don’t want to stay, I think they’ll look to do business and put them out before the end of the window.”
Conundrum
The Rangers transformation for the 2023/24 campaign is already taking shape at Ibrox, following a whopping nine transfers already brought in at Ibrox with the Scottish Premiership campaign set to get underway.
And there could be a few more transfer irons in the fire as Beale is desperate for more quality in the squad.
However, the outgoings will be just as important with certain Gers players potentially not having a place in Beale’s thinking for next season, including Kamara and Wright.
While Rangers may not be batting an eyelid at those two players departing, Barisic and Lundstram’s departures may hurt for a number of reasons.
Lundstram’s experience and know-how proved crucial for Beale last season and it remains to be seen whether the Rangers boss would be willing to lose that in the coming weeks, while Barisic remains arguably the best left-back option with second choice Ridvan Yilmaz struggling to stake a claim since his move last summer and could be on the move away already.
Beale certainly won’t want to lose two of his left-backs but Ferguson is absolutely right, Rangers can’t afford to suffer the same mistakes as they did with Morelos and Kent and allow Lundstram and Barisic to wind down their contracts.
After bringing in Jose Cifuentes, Lundstram’s starting role is under threat which may mean he could be moved on but Beale may be tempted to keep Barisic and persuade him to extend given the need for a quality option at left-back.
In other Rangers news, one Ibrox fan-favourite is attracting interest from Turkish giants Galatasaray but the Gers must knock ball all approaches for his services with Beale desperately needing him this season.