Talented Rangers prospect Liam Burt has signed a new contract with the club that will see him stay at Ibrox until the summer of 2019.
#RangersFC can confirm that Liam Burt (@LiamBurt10) has today signed a one year contract extension until summer 2019. pic.twitter.com/dQoUFXdVBE
— Rangers Youth Academy (@RFC_Youth) July 2, 2018
Plagued by injuries over the last 12 months, Burt has long been heralded as one of the outstanding talents coming through the club’s academy.
He made his debut for the club back in 2016 at the age of 17, but has since struggled to force his way into first team plans, something he will now be obviously hoping to change under Steven Gerrard.
With exposure to regular football limited at Ibrox, he was sent out to Scottish Championship side Dumbarton in the second half of last season, impressing in midfield despite the club being relegated to League One.
Last month the youngster spoke about the challenges he has faced so far in his short career, hoping to impress Gerrard ahead of the new season.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, Burt said:
Hopefully I can show him what I can do in pre-season and push on. It’s exciting times.
I don’t know if I got the expectation on me too soon, but it was difficult to be involved with the first team and then drop down.
It has been tough, but I need to show I’m mentally strong enough to get through that.
It’s clear he has a healthy enough attitude to succeed and obviously the club have deemed his progress strong enough to be worth a new one-year deal, another positive sign that he might have what it takes to make a breakthrough into the first team.
It really is a massive year for him though, potentially a make-or-break one with regards to his Rangers career.
With the signature of Ovie Ejaria on loan and players like Jordan Rossiter also returning to match fitness, competition is fiercer than ever in the middle of the park.
If Gerrard doesn’t feel he has what it takes to make an impression for the senior side then another loan move for the youngster could be great for his development, especially if they manage to sort out a deal at another Scottish Premiership side.
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