Rangers squad stands at a 30 man total just now with the expectation that there will be some further arrivals this month but that is a number that can’t be sustained.
Let’s take a look behind that figure.
On the club’s official website, there is a total of 32 names listed but that includes youth goalkeeper Kieran Wright and Nnamdi Ofoborh who have not been deemed as part of the first team picture in terms of our selection.
Firstly, let’s look at the breakdown.
Goalkeepers
Allan McGregor
Jon McLaughlin
Robby McCrorie
Defenders
James Tavernier
Ridvan Yilmaz
Filip Helander
Connor Goldson
John Souttar
Ben Davies
Borna Barisic
Leon King
Adam Devine
Midfielders
John Lundstram
Ryan Jack
Steven Davis
Glen Kamara
James Sands
Charlie McCann
Scott Arfield
Malik Tillman
Alex Lowry
Attackers
Ianis Hagi
Antonio Colak
Tom Lawrence
Ryan Kent
Rabbi Matondo
Alfredo Morelos
Scott Wright
Kemar Roofe
Fashion Sakala
At present, 21 of the above players are available to the manager for selection which is a few less than generally desired but within the next few weeks the likes of Hagi and Souttar should return to the fold whilst there has been continued frustration for Roofe and Colak.
Ideally, the manager would be working with a panel of 24 plus up to a handful of the best youth prospects. In recent times, Lowry, King, Devine and McCann have made the step up and continue to knock on the door of Michael Beale.
Moving forward, there should be two or three arrivals before the end of this month then the picture shifts towards the Summer. Seven of the current squad (Kent, Morelos, McGregor, Arfield, Jack, Davis, Helander) are approaching the end of their contracts as well as Tillman and Sands whose loans are expiring.
Amid expectations and a real need for quality into the first team, there will also need to be a balancing of the squad with some required to be sold or released to maintain a healthy, competitive group.