Rangers academy prospect Josh McPake is set to continue his senior development with a second loan spell this season after agreeing to head south to join Harrogate Town in League 2, according to a report in Football Insider.
Other lower league sides were said to be interested in the Scotland youth cap but, having been pictured attending their most recent fixture, it would appear as though the team currently sitting in 16th place have won the race for his signature.
McPake has spent the first half of the season at Greenock Morton and drew early praise for his impact playing for the Championship club from manager David Hopkin:
“He gives you something different, you keep forgetting he’s a 19-year-old kid. He gets us up the pitch.
“I thought we’d give him 90 minutes to see how he copes with it because that’s probably his first game for seven months.
“I thought he was excellent. The boy’s got a fantastic chance in football.”
Pictures emerged during pre-season of the work that McPake had obviously been putting in during the Covid-19 enforced break where he looked visibly more athletic, adding a physicality that had previously been missing from his game.
Is League Two the right move for McPake?
Yes
No
He has had the occasionally glimpse of first-team action under Steven Gerrard and has the potential to become a Rangers player, but he will have to improve his end product, his pace and ability on the ball gets him into some good positions but this hasn’t been reflected so far this season with just two assists in his 12 appearances for Morton.
Gers fans can be quick to write young players off but will be keeping a keen eye on the 19-year old’s performances in England as he continues to adapt to the senior game, hoping that he shows the sort of form that could see him step up to Steven Gerrard’s first team squad next season.