Almost since the day that Lewis Ferguson broke through into the first-team at Hamilton, he has been talked about as, one day, being a Rangers player, his dad played for the club in the 80s and his uncle is arguably one of our greatest ver midfielders.
Now, with Scott Arfield and Steven Davis extending their respective contracts, attention will surely turn to trying to attract the next generation to take over with the 22-year old Scotland international likely to have his name thrown about once again, a mov to Watford and interest from Serie A causing him to have itchy feet.
Speaking at the end of the season, Ferguson revealed that he wants his future sorted out sooner rather than later, a repeat of last summer when he handed in a transfer request unlikely to be repeated, it’s pretty clear that he sees his future away from Pittodrie and who could blame him?
Football Scotland reported on his desire for clarity so that he can focus on the game rather than off-field distractions:
“In terms of my future, we’ll just have to wait and see. I have had a few chats with the manager in the past couple of weeks.
“I don’t know anything yet. I’ve got to wait and see what happens in the summer and see where it takes me.
“I still feel the same way as last summer. It’s difficult to go through it when that is all surrounding you.
“It is honestly so hard for about a month or two and my head wasn’t in the right place.
“It’s a difficult one to go through and I really don’t want to go through that sort of situation again.”
With 16 goals in 45 games, seven of them from open play, Ferguson is capable of adding goals from a deeper position similar to Arfield and, for all that he is a different type of player, he has the physicality and athleticism needed in the Scottish game, a drive also shared by Ryan Jack.
The problem with trying to assess Ferguson is that he has been playing in an Aberdeen team that is far from pleasing on the eye, at Rangers he would be expected to provide more than work rate and commitment, he would also be refereed to a different standard as Jack also found when he first moved.
Ferguson might not admit it publicly but he would clearly love a move to the club that is so associated with his family over the last few decades in one way or another, being seen at the Europa League final with Ross McCrorie not going down well with fans of his current employers.
We’ve been linked with him every summer, maybe this year will be the one he finally gets his dream move.