Rangers belief shared from within Ibrox as Manchester City eye Ashton Scally swoop
Rangers may lose talented youngster Ashton Scally to Manchester City.
That is according to Rangers Review journalist Joshua Barrie, who states that the 15-year-old is one of a number of Rangers youngsters attracting Premier League interest.
In addition to there being “belief” from within Rangers that Scally could head to the Etihad, fellow Gers academy talent Chris Condy is set to join Brighton on a professional contract.
The report adds there is no guarantee some of Scotland’s rising stars will stay in the country, particularly when professional deals come their way.
And although Kyle Glasgow has committed his future to the Ibrox outfit, it seems some of his fellow teenagers will not do the same.
Scottish Premiership falling down the food chain
After Celtic were knocked out of the Europa League by Stuttgart in February, Scotland fell out of the all-important top 15 in the UEFA coefficient rankings.
After dropping from 14th to 18th, that now means Scotland’s top teams will now have to compete for just one Champions League qualification spot in 2026-27 after six seasons of two spots.
To make matters worse, this year’s Scottish champions will enter the second qualifying round for the competition and not the play-offs.
For example, Rangers, Celtic or Hearts would then have to come through three ties to join the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal, Real Madrid and more in the Champions League group phase.
If there are fewer European spots available for Scottish teams, that may lead some of their academy talents to seek moves to England or further afield.
One of the big calling cards for Old Firm teams is that they can guarantee playing in one of Europe’s elite footballing competitions. If that is taken away, that could set them back a long way.
That could tempt Scally and other youngsters to leave Danny Rohl‘s side sooner rather than later.
- Read more: Ibrox chatter on Danny Rohl’s future sheer delusion as Rangers reality check proves truth
Is Danny Rohl really under pressure at Rangers?
When Rohl replaced Russell Martin at Rangers in October, they were 13 points adrift of league leaders Hearts and sat eighth in the table.
The former Sheffield Wednesday boss has certainly steadied the Rangers ship since then but in recent weeks, they have had some damaging results.
They include throwing away a lead against 10-man Motherwell, picking up a point away at basement side Livingston, and not being able to hold on to a 2-0 advantage against Celtic last Sunday.
With Rangers now six points adrift of leaders Hearts and one behind bitter rivals Celtic, questions are mounting over whether Rohl can lead the Gers to their first league title since 2021.
The Ibrox team do have a young squad and after the draw with the Bhoys, concerns over Rangers’ mentality have sprung up.
There is still time to top the pile but they need to pick up some positive results and fast. Such an opportunity will present itself on Sunday when they host Celtic again, this time in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.
A win there could provide the shot in the arm that they need in the final stretch of the season.
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