Rangers could chase Lennon Miller and Connor Barron deals after John Lundstram Celtic chaos
John Lundstram’s disastrous Rangers performance against Celtic may well have been his last for the club and has surely made a pair of already-linked potential new arrivals more likely.
The Ibrox midfielder is expected to join Trabzonspor at the expiry of his contract this summer, with Ryan Jack also likely to leave when his own deal ends after extensive injury issues throughout out his Gers career.
And if Philippe Clement needed any proof that his midfield required significant work then he got it in yet another disappointing Old Firm derby defeat on Saturday (11 May).
That is arguably the key area in the fight for supremacy in Scotland against Brendan Rodgers’ current side, where Callum McGregor, Matt O’Riley and Reo Hatate started in the 2-1 victory, but Clement’s trio of Lundstram, Mohamed Diomande and Tom Lawrence didn’t come close to matching up.
January arrival Diomande has shown enough positive signs so suggest he can be a building block for the future, while Dujon Sterling should have started there, and possibly would have without so many injuries elsewhere.
John Lundstram shows Philippe Clement Rangers need help in midfield
But it was a measure of how poor the midfield was at Parkhead that Nico Raskin’s second half introduction made an obvious difference, albeit too little too late, when the Belgian has become a forgotten man after an alarming regression in his second season.
Even if two veteran options weren’t on the way out the latest derby let down, which has all but ended hopes of an unlikely SPFL title, Clement and Nils Koppen will now know the centre of the park needs work this summer, and in Aberdeen’s exit-bound Connor Barron and Motherwell sensation Lennon Miller there are two options who have already been tipped as potential Rangers players of the future.
Barron, 21, was nominated for the Football Writers’ Young Player of the Year award after a campaign where he has made 38 total appearances and started regularly in the second half of the season, but is due to move on for minimal compensation after failing to agree a new contract at Pittodrie.
That would overcome the usual difficulties of doing business with the Dons and allow Clement to land a developing talent who has proven his ability in Scotland for a knockdown price.
Motherwell and Aberdeen youngsters could head to Ibrox
Miller on the other had is only 17 but was shortlisted for both the Football Writers’ and the PFA Young Player awards, missing out on both to Kilmarnock’s David Watson, and has been cited as an obvious target for the Light Blues already.
In his first season as a first-team regular the teenager has made 35 total appearances for Stuart Kettlewell’s side and, notably, stood out in the 3-1 defeat to Celtic on 25 February, while a deal with Motherwell has been tipped to be a manageable prospect.
Clement has all sorts of areas to focus on in the upcoming transfer window and before now a striker, potentially Lawrence Shankland, might have been priority number one, but Cyriel Dessers’ development and the nightmare midfield showing in the derby has surely increased the need for help in the middle, so with two domestic options seen to be obtainable while still improving the chances of either Barron, Miller, or both arriving at Ibrox must have gone up.
In other Rangers news, the Light Blues are already after a new defender who has decided he will move this summer.
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