Kris Boyd names 11 Rangers players including James Tavernier who could leave Ibrox if Philippe Clement gets his way
Kris Boyd has named 11 players who Rangers could allow to leave Ibrox this summer if Philippe Clement gets his way in the transfer window.
The former striker has called for a “clearout” at the club this summer after Celtic all-but claimed a 12th league title in 13 seasons with an Old Firm win on Saturday 11 May, with Clement admitting he expects a lot of changes in the transfer window.
And while discussing the squad situation live on Sky Sports ahead of the Gers’ 5-2 win over Dundee (14 May), Boyd expanded on his thoughts and named a host of players who could move on if the manager gets his wish including captain James Tavernier and talisman Todd Cantwell.
“I think obviously John Lundstram is one that he’s spoken about that he didn’t want his contract to run down in the past,” he said.
“Lundstram has played nearly every minute of nearly every game since Philippe Clement has come in.
“Leon Balogun is another one who I think is quite content coming in and playing a few games and going out, which sometimes you do need those types of characters.
“Other than that, [Oscar] Cortes, I don’t know how much the loan fee would be, but the rest it’s very difficult to put forward a case to keep.
“Kemar Roofe’s injury record, Ryan Jack’s injury record. Ryan Jack in terms of the Scottish players, you might have to try and look after him, [Zak] Lovelace is a young boy, but these guys are out of contract. It’s the next step, there are a lot more who are still under contract that Philippe Clement will be trying to move on as well.
“I mean when you look at [Ianis] Hagi, [Sam] Lammers, [Jose] Cifuentes, [Alex] Lowry, they’ve all been out on loan and not really done it. What does the future hold for them?
“You’re then looking at [Tom] Lawrence, [Ben] Davies who have hardly played. Lawrence’s injury record, [Todd] Cantwell there’s questions about him. [Kieran] Dowell as well.
“There’s loads of players there, where they’re under contract, but the thing is now with Rangers not winning the league, you might have to lose players who you don’t want to lose.”
Philippe Clement must prioritise fringe players over Rangers stars
The club have got some huge transfer decisions to make this summer, with cash needing to be raised in order to strengthen the squad but also the squad needing to be bolstered with depth.
That means the floor of the squad needs to be raised as well as the ceiling of the squad, but the priority must be to improve depth by bringing in top players and getting rid of the ones who aren’t good enough.
The issue with selling stars like Cantwell and Tavernier, who are regulars and have great experience, is that if they’re not replaced adequately then the squad risks going backwards.
However the difference is that those fringe players who aren’t good enough are highly unlikely to be able to justify a decent transfer fee, and that will make it harder to strengthen.
A decision will need to be made one way or another, but the fact remains that the squad needs to be overhauled and Clement has a huge job on his hands to do it.
In other Rangers news, one Ibrox star has confirmed he will leave the club after the 5-2 win over Dundee.
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