Ross Wilson, with 32 players in the first-team squad, has a big job on his hands this summer to get that number down closer to the 25 that Michael Beale thinks is more appropriate – that is a sizeable sum off the wage bill if he manages to pull it off though.
On top of those that will leave at the end of their contracts, there will need to be one or two players who are sold to make way for new faces, unfortunately – for very different reasons – non-contributors like Kemar Roofe and Nnamdi Ofoborh will still be a part of the squad. Nobody would be happier than me if they both return to fitness though.
Rangers have already been linked with several new faces, the midfield is starting to take shape and summer signings from last year that have been injured are starting to return to the squad. If all goes well, we could see a line up that looks something like this:
Goalkeeper will be one of the most interesting decisions in terms of who we bring in, Vladan Kovacevic is the gold standard but he would probably cost in the region of £5million and because there is so much work to be done, it may be that we go with experience and the relatively risk free option of 29-year old Jack Butland.
The defence, other than another backup centre half will be much the same, what we might see further forwards though is Todd Cantwell replacing Ryan Kent’s role in the team, but from a deeper position with Malik Tillman being given a free role in attack. Having said that, the line up against Hibs looked as good as we have seen for a long time.
Nikola Krstovic is like a mix between Roofe and Morelos and offers a great central option with Serbian youth international Petar Ratkov a striker who already plays as a second forward, we wouldn’t have to fit a square peg into a round hole if we were to sign him.
It’s going to be a busy summer and no doubt, there will be a surprise or two, however, I don’t think I could take it anymore if we go into next season with Scott Arfield, Steven Davis, Ryan Jack and Glen Kamara still forming most of our midfield.
Don`t see Lawrence playing that role in the team , he is an attacking midfielder . Wouldn`t bet on Ridvan replacing Barisic .He`s completely unproven and Big Borna has been in great form . I laugh at the push to get Ridvan in the team he has shown nothing when he has played and like Hagi has become a better player when not playing.
Disagree with Ridvan, there is a reason we paid what we did and he was starting to look really sharp. He is also more of a dribbler and likely to get behind defences, Raith Rovers a great example. Agree with Borna though, arguably showing best form.