Rangers exit shock: Tom Lawrence free transfer news emerges

Besiktas want to sign Tom Lawrence on a free transfer before 3 February despite the Rangers star still being under contract, according to Aksam Spor.

The Turkish outlet reported on 18 January that Lawrence has been "closely monitored" by the SuperLig side, who have reached an agreement with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to become their new head coach.

With Lawrence's £22,000-per-week [IbroxNoise, 18 June 2024] contract at Ibrox expiring this summer, Besiktas are pushing to sign the 30-year-old before 3 February, but are attempting to do so without paying a transfer fee.

Lawrence has already played under Solskjaer during his time at Manchester United's academy, and had also been a transfer target for Besiktas when former Gers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst was in charge.

Rangers can't afford to buckle in Tom Lawrence transfer dispute

While Lawrence was indeed pushing for a transfer in the summer window as he entered the final 12 months of his Ibrox contract [Fanatik, 12 June 2024], letting him go for free six months early would hardly be a shrewd move.

The Light Blues lost £17.2million over the course of last season, and having also seen several senior players walk out the door for next to nothing last summer, they cannot afford to repeat those mistakes.

Lawrence's minutes in Light Blue have certainly faded this term with the emergence of Hamza Igamane and returns of Danilo and Ianis Hagi to the first-team squad, but he still adds value as a rotation player.

Early-season strikes against Dundee United and Hibernian gave Clement's side back-to-back wins at a crucial period following an Old Firm thumping by Celtic, and the Belgian may still see his value.

There's no doubt that Lawrence is one of the big-money players the Gers would be better off by having off the books, but unless Besiktas are willing to stump up a transfer fee, expect him to stay put for now.

In other Rangers news, another out-of-favour Gers star could be set for an "imminent" Ibrox exit after what he said recently.

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