Bailey Rice made his Rangers debut under Michael Beale

Matthew Wilkinson

Wed 23 April 2025 8:38, UK

Bailey Rice appears to have finally broken through at Rangers under Barry Ferguson.

The teenager was handed his first European start against Athletic Bilbao in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-finals, and he quickly had fans talking about him.

The defensive midfielder has been in and around the first team squad all season, being a regular feature on the bench under both Philippe Clement and Ferguson.

However, it is the latter who has been more open to giving him opportunities, with the temporary manager clearly seeing some quality within him.

Rangers sources reveal new Rice talks

Rice is a talented young midfielder, and the type of player that Rangers can build around in the long term, which is why he’s someone the club wants to keep.

The 18-year-old is currently under contract until 2026, but the Scottish giants are now looking to extend that to secure his future.

According to The Rangers Review, the Gers are set to offer Rice a new contract in order to extend his stay at Ibrox moving forward.

Talks are still at preliminary stages at this moment, but sources close to the deal expect him to sign.

It’s a positive sign for Rice’s development that Rangers are willing to put the work in at this stage to retain his services, evidently wanting to push away any potential interested parties.

Rice would benefit from a loan move

If Rice does choose to sign a contract extension, Rangers may want to consider a loan move for the defensive midfielder next season to get him playing more regular football.

The teenager has only featured 11 times for the first team this season, with the vast majority of those being small cameo performances.

Even though he has started recently for the Light Blues, if Rangers want to get the best out of him, then allowing Rice to leave next season would be the best decision possible.

This is just one of many big decisions coming this summer.