Daniel Feliciano

Fri 3 March 2023 18:10, UK

Rangers announced this week that James Sands’ loan deal from New York City FC had been terminated early, and the player had returned to the MLS.

Sands had found himself way out of favour since the arrival of Michael Beale at Ibrox, and way down the pecking order in both central midfield and in central defence too.

Beale revealed that the player himself asked for his deal to be terminated early due to a lack of game time, and after keeping him around as cover for the Viaplay Cup final, his wish was granted after that.

But with a lot of players at Rangers finding themselves in a very similar position to Sands this summer, with their contract set to expire and a decision needing to be made on their future, this should be the start of something bigger.

Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent, Ryan Jack, Allan McGregor, Filip Helander, Steven Davis and Scott Arfield are all out of contract this summer, with varying degrees of worry from fans about their future.

But while the club have seemingly been desperate for some to re-sign and not too fussed about others, this is a chance to make a real statement with their squad this summer.

However, on top of those players out of contract, there are players at different points in their career whose future at Ibrox should also be considered ahead of what promises to be a huge summer.

Glen Kamara, John Lundstram and James Tavernier are the biggest names who could find themselves on the chopping block, but not because they’re not good enough right now.

Tavernier’s quality is still obvious, but he simply can’t play 60 games per season at the required level and we’ve seen him cost us with some poor mistakes recently.

Kamara’s head is seemingly elsewhere after last summer’s chases from European clubs, while Lundstram looks a shadow of the player that he was last year when he became first-choice.

Now is the time to make decisions on these players, and be ruthless with it, just like we were with Sands.

Players shouldn’t be at Ibrox based on their names or what they’ve done previously, but what they can offer to the squad and to the club right now. They all have a role to play next season and beyond, but there’s nothing wrong with suggesting they should have more competition or not be assured starters.

It’s a chance for Beale to really make a statement about what he wants his Rangers squad to look like and how he wants to play going forward. He must be ruthless and not make this Sands decision a one off thing.

In other Rangers news, Beale shares an official club update on current stars’ contract situations.