Football, and in particular, transfer speculation, is very much a case of putting two and two together and coming up with something as close to four as possible.
When Borna Barisic bid a fond farewell to the Rangers faithful at the end of the game – looking emotional whilst doing so – Sky Sports quickly turned the narrative towards the conclusion that he must be leaving, what other explanation could there be?
The 21-cap Croatian international clearly hasn’t been fully fit since returning towards the end of pre-season, an injury sustained at the end of last year still causing him problems, Calvin Bassey would probably have started against Celtic but for Covid-19 protocols.
Speculation has been quiet surrounding Barisic’s future, there was interest from Serie A last season but it’s all gone quiet, at 28-years old though, it may be that he has decided that his work at Ibrox is done, with a league winner’s medal in his back pocket.
Personally, I think he’s just showing how much the club means to him, he’s had a difficult time recently and will be aware of the claims for Bassey to get the nod ahead of him because of his poor form.
Borna Barisic
He hasn’t been on form, been struggling with an injury, played through the pain barrier again today
As Gary Mac said, all emotion from Borna today at FT, he loves this club. Remember he came back before & proved it then, a brilliant assist today
Top player 🇭🇷 pic.twitter.com/k6usoAqfBb
— Four Lads Had a Dream (@4ladshadadream) August 29, 2021
As we saw today though, Barisic very rarely lets us down in derbies – especially in defence.
He wasn’t as productive in attack as he normally is but still created a couple of chances and walked off with an assist to his name, a perfectly placed corner providing Filip Helander with the winning goal.
Hopefully he stays, rather than goes, as his own song proclaims.