Next season could see a very different looking Rangers squad, given Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s history, I’d expect it to be leaner, more robust and to see more players from the academy playing a bigger part in it.
What this means is that we shouldn’t see players like Brandon Barker, Cedric Itten or Jack Simpson, senior professionals taking home a decent wage but contributing very little.
Barker has already left but I’d expect the other two to follow suit and be replaced from within, as yet, there have been no rumours about the future of Itten but Simpson continues to attract interest, as reported by Football Insider:
“Birmingham City are lining up a new move for Rangers defender Jack Simpson, Football Insider understands.
“The Championship club failed to land the 25-year-old on deadline day in the January window after running out of time to agree a deal.
“A recruitment source has told Football Insider that Birmingham are still keen on Simpson and are keeping tabs on him ahead of the summer.”
That 18-year old Leon King and Calvin Bassey have always looked more comfortable in a Rangers jersey than Simpson tells it’s own story, a player who has played in the Premier League should have the confidence to adapt to life in the Scottish Premiership and yet it just hasn’t worked out.
With both Leon Balogun and Filip Helander injured, he had a great opportunity to get a run of games but we ended up playing Bassey out of position and even put John Lundstram in too.
It was a deal that cost us very little and might even make us a profit, however, it should be the last time we sign someone purely to sit in the stands or be fourth choice, it’s time to develop our own and we will never find out if they are good enough if their pathway to the first-team is blocked.