Vital Rangers has covered, at length, the contract situation current facing the club, almost an entire first XI that has just 18-months left before they could walk away from the club for nothing.
Ross Wilson has spoken before about being “relaxed” when it comes to the situation and that it is impossible to prevent players from leaving at the end of their deals if that’s what they want to do, it’s a difficult balancing act selling players at their true valuation, paying them a salary within our wage structure or face letting them walk out the door.
Rangers can only sell players that other clubs make offers for.
Speaking to Football Insider, Alex McLeish has expressed his surprise that so many of Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s first-team stars are still at the club and has expressed his concern about what might happen in the future:
“I’m amazed at Rangers holding onto all these players for such a long time and not making any big transfer money.
“Nathan (Patterson) is a very unusual one, for a kid just to come right from the academy. He made some great appearances and then was instantly attracted to a Premier League team in England. Everton are one of the biggest ones, at that.
“That was probably something Rangers never expected.
“They would have possibly been bracing for one of the players who has been very consistent over the last couple of years to go and be recognised by one of the teams down in England or Europe.
“We’ve been hearing many, many stories. They have done well to keep all these guys.
“God forbid they play, they get to an even higher level and then there’s a mass exodus.”
Selling Patterson for a club record fee was an important bit of business, it set the benchmark for future transfers. Reports linking Joe Aribo with a £10million move when he has been our best player are nothing short of laughable, do clubs honestly think we would part with such an asset for less than a promising back-up?
Our sporting director simply has to get those that are expiring next summer extended, even if it is just for another year to protect their transfer values, the ones this summer – other than Connor Goldson – aren’t as big an issue given their age and profiles plus it is unlikely any of them will get a big wage offer or have another club of similar standing come in for them.
The worst case scenario isn’t a pleasant thought, Filip Helander, Ryan Jack, Joe Aribo, Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent are not only key players but worth an awful lot of money, writing them off the books and having to replace them just isn’t worth thinking about.