Giovanni van Bronckhorst has confirmed that Nikola Katic is set to leave Rangers.
The update is far from a surprise, it was expected and now the conclusion will come once the Croatian defender finds a new club with Rangers ready to assist.
Signed from Slaven Belupo in the Summer of 2018, Katic played his part during the Steven Gerrard era but his own development did not match that of the Rangers team over the last four years, especially now with the skill-set of defenders and ball playing capability demanded by Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
In Katic’s favour, he did prove his fitness last season on loan at Hajduk Split upon his return from a bad knee injury.
He spoke of his uncertainty of the season ahead at Ibrox but believed he had the quality required, even though privately he would have been resigned to this confirmation that his Rangers career is over.
Gio van Bronckhorst stating during the press conference on Friday:
“Niko was back for this pre-season and is a great person, but I spoke with him about his future at the club and we agreed that it would be nice for him to get another club to play elsewhere. His future will not be at Rangers.”
“We will help him with finding a new club and hopefully he can get that challenge elsewhere”
Departures
It is a similar fate that will be in store for the likes of Glenn Middleton (linked with Dundee United), Stephen Kelly and possibly a couple of others to depart on loan.
GvB’s first team squad is sitting a over 30 players just now which is too many. The manager has declared himself happy with the squad, with no major new signings planned. A Champions League breakthrough could change that, providing the luxury of another talent to come in, which wouldn’t have been part of the planned budget.
At the same time, any unexpected sales of key players would be replaced but overall Rangers are ready to go and face the demands of the new season with the reward there to be secured.