With reports of Premier League interest in Rangers’ Leon King, there was some consternation at the prospect of losing another promising talent so soon.
Having performed admirably at Anfield in last week’s Champions League game at the tender age of 18, it is obvious that other clubs would be taking note of the defender who has previously been monitored by some of England’s top flight.
In the case of Nathan Patterson, Rangers and the fans were prevented from seeing him truly prosper in the first team at Ibrox, partly because he shared a position with the club captain James Tavernier but other than that, simple market dynamics and the football food chain dictated that his immediate future would lie elsewhere.
With King seizing the opportunity afforded in part by Leon Balogun’s departure as well as Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s trust in the teenager, he will be part of the first team picture moving forward and hopefully for at least another couple of seasons. The rest depends on how far he improves and how soon.
Given the size and stature of Rangers as a football club, it is still an uncomfortable reality that we can no longer keep top talents at the club indefinitely. That is the same for home grown players as much as it is for diamonds snared from England’s academies such as Calvin Bassey. The sales of the Nigerian international as well as Patterson show the pathway that will be in place for all those who emerge as serious top talents. That is the reality.
Many clubs are monitoring Rangers centre back Leon King (2004) who started against Liverpool at Anfield, last week β heβs out of contract in June 2024. ππ΄σ §σ ’σ ³σ £σ ΄σ Ώ #transfers
Manchester United, Newcastle and Leeds have already sent their scouts to follow King. pic.twitter.com/gE7Iza7uJW
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 11, 2022
As outlined by Vital Rangers own Gavin Kelly:
“The dream would be to see King spend the whole of his career at the club he supports, however, we have to be realistic, elite level clubs like Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United have tried β and failed β to persuade him to move in the past, but they can offer sums of money that even our best players can only dream about.”
Rangers has to be a self-sustaining club with player trading forming an essential part of that. Develop, sell, profit – that is what works so well at the likes of Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Porto and Benfica (at a greater level) and it is relatively similar sized clubs in leagues close to Scotland’s ranking that Rangers must seek to emulate.