Why Connor Barron may wish to avoid Rangers exit as three-horse transfer race begins

Connor Barron looks set to leave Rangers this summer with clubs across Europe registering their interest.

Barron's time with Rangers so far has seen him enjoy both ups and downs at Ibrox.

The 23-year-old has been with Gers since the summer of 2024, when he joined on a free transfer from Aberdeen.

Since making the move to Govan, Barron has played 83 times in the royal blue, scoring zero goals and providing four assists, whilst also enduring some injury setbacks along the way.

Last season saw him turn out 27 times in the Scottish Premiership for the Bears, with 16 of those being as part of the starting lineup.

Struggling to fight through a crowded central midfield room, the central midfielder could now be set for a Serie A switch this summer.

Who has registered an interest in signing Connor Barron?

A player who still has plenty of ability and potential, it remains to be seen how strongly Rangers fight to keep Barron at Ibrox in this window.

Indeed, that fight looks set to become more intense in the coming days, as news of European interest arrives for the Scotland international.

According to an X post from Scottish-based Sky Sports News journalist Anthony Joseph, Bologna, Lazio and Eintracht Frankfurt have all made their interest known over signing Barron to Rangers.

Contracted with Gers until 2028, Ibrox chiefs don't need to be in any rush to cash in on him if they and/or Derek McInnes has him in the first-team plans.

Given it's two Serie A clubs to one German Bundesliga side, it would naturally seem more likely that if he was to leave that Italy might be his destination.

However, the numbers which Barron put up in the Scottish Premiership last season suggests he might not be best suited for Serie A football.

The Italian traits that Barron appears to lack

You couldn't really begrudge Barron for jumping at the opportunity to go and play in Serie A with either one of Lazio or Bologna.

It would be a step up in terms of standing and standard of football, and it would likely come with more financially lucrative terms than he's currently on.

But, Barron must also rule with his head when deciding on his future this summer, and that might just tell him to swerve Serie A.

Italian football is renowned for being built on defensive performances, with players needing to show bite and steel as well as plenty of ability in the physical side of the game in order to see success there, especially in central midfield.

As per FotMob, Barron finished in the bottom 24.7 percentile of all Scottish Premiership defensive midfielders for aerial duels won per 90 minutes (0.73) last season.

On top of that, he was only slightly above average for his 53.2 duels won rate, and was dispossessed 14 times in 27 games respectively.

His 0.18 blocked shots ranked him in the bottom 29.9 per cent of his positional rivals, whilst he placed in the lowest 16.9 percentile for his 1.15 dribbled past per game average too.

So, if Barron was to move to Serie A, he would surely have to take some significant strides in these areas of his game if he wants to be a hit over there.