According to reports, Steven Gerrard and Rangers have already made up their minds on one summer recruit and that his future lies away from the club.
Brandon Barker has failed to find any consistency or even moments of magic as Football Insider claims – according to sources within Ibrox – his inability to replicate his form on the training pitch on a match day has seen Gerrard lose trust and patience with the Manchester City academy graduate.
Fans of the Ibrox club were frustrated with his selection ahead of other players who looked infinitely more capable, in the first half of the season Jamie Murphy continually missed out and eventually went out on loan to Burton Albion and Jordan Jones frequently made way either side of the winter break and his knee injury.
Barker was always seen as a free hit given that he arrived with a minimal transfer fee and had performed well in the Scottish Premiership on loan with Hibernian, rumoured to be a Mark Allen signing, the winger has just one goal and no assists to his name all season, when compared to a rival from across the city in the same position, James Forrest has 16 goals and 22 assists, numbers that a forward for the Light Blues should also be producing.
There are plenty of teams in the Premiership or in England that would be tempted to take a punt on the former England youth international and Rangers would not be difficult or expect to receive a large fee.
It might not have been much of a gamble but it is still one that didn’t pay-off especially when injuries to other first choice players forced Gerrard to play Barker knowing that he couldn’t be relied upon to produce the goods.