James Sands has credited his time at Ibrox as being instrumental in his development as well as in finding his best position on the pitch.
The USA international cut short his loan agreement last month, to return to his native land to join up with parent club New York City FC, where he is looking to take on a leadership role within the team, as told to MLS Soccer.
The 22-year old didn’t quite make the desired impact in Glasgow but he was a valued impact player for Giovanni van Bronckhorst since he joined the club in January 2022. The intense demands at Ibrox, combined with the varied European exploits in both campaigns, as well as the life experience will all be a major benefit to Sands as he takes his next steps.
“I only look at the last 13 months as an overwhelming success,” he stated.
“I had a great time under van Bronckhorst, I played a lot. The new coach came in, had more familiarity with other players, so it was tougher to get games.”
“Still, they were very clear that they loved me as a player and would have been interested in keeping me, but the price was going to come between the two teams.”
The reported £5million price tag was always going to be a stumbling block even if the American had excelled, but it further shows that the ‘try before you buy‘ structure to the agreement worked in Rangers favour as well as concluding to the satisfaction of the player, who continued:
“Going to Rangers was about answering questions about myself. The biggest one was what position I can play best on the field. Now, I can say that’s in the midfield.”
“New York gives me a unique opportunity where there’s an opening for me to fill that role and step up as a leader. I felt it made more sense to come back than going to another club in Europe.”
His former boss at NYC, Ronny Deila, is said to have wanted to take him to Standard Liege but it is on familiar ground at home where James Sands will now strive to push on in MLS as well as to add to his seven USMNT appearances.