Rangers transfer news: Philippe Clement confirms Alex Lowry exit plan after Hearts loan cancelled
Rangers plan to send Alex Lowry out on loan again after his temporary move to Hearts was ended early, Philippe Clement has confirmed.
The Light Blues boss said in his press conference on 23 January that the “clear plan” for the winger is for him to get minutes on loan this season, so the club are now set to decide where is best for him to do that.
The 20-year-old made a total of 17 appearances under Steven Naismith in the first half of the campaign, scoring once and producing four assists in all competitions, before his deal was
The club shared the manager’s update via their official Twitter, posting: “PC: The clear plan with Alex is we want him on loan to get minutes this season.
“We want him to go on loan and get stronger by playing regular games. We will see what is the best place for him to go and develop.”
Not ready
If Hearts have sent Lowry back from Tynecastle early on the basis that “he’s probably not going to get the game time that would allow him to develop further”, according to Naismith [Hearts official website, 19 January] then he presumably wouldn’t be anything like a regular under Clement either.
With Abdallah Sima joining the endless list of injured Gers, with a particular lack of options in attacking areas currently, it would have been perfect timing if Lowry could have stepped in.
But clearly the manager thinks he will be better served elsewhere for the rest of the campaign, so after a Jam Tarts loan that had positives and negatives to it his next move looks key.
Having looked exciting in the side under Giovanni van Bronckhorst two seasons ago the wide man hasn’t necessarily progressed as would have been hoped in the time since, albeit having had to deal with a significant injury set back last term.
His early appearances were very encouraging and suggested he might be featuring regularly for Rangers in a short time but that hasn’t happened.
Ross McCausland has since broken through in the same position, as the only real academy product getting much first-team action currently, so Clement will have to hope the Northern Irishman’s development doesn’t suffer any similar set backs.
In other Rangers news, a BBC Sportsound commentator has suggested a first-team player is set to leave live on air.
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