Today’s breaking stories concerning Glen Kamara are absolutely fascinating.
On one hand we have the Athletic with a story alleging he’s close to a new deal (a new deal he’s been ‘close’ to since November 2019) and on the other a developing story of Leeds’ interest in him and Ryan Kent as a double signing.
Now, we urge caution over the contract story. In 2019 Stevie G said this:
“He’s in good form and playing well. The message for Glen and the other players is we always reward our players for consistent performances over a long period of time. Glen will be treated no different. All he needs to worry about is bringing success back to the club and I’m sure he will be well looked after.”
In 2020 he said this (lengthy):
“In terms of Glen Kamara, it is where it is. It’s pretty simple, it’s my job to advise when I think people deserve to be rewarded, it’s my job to advise when I predict there’s a lot of noise around a certain individual. I’m obviously trying to protect the club, the board, the team and everyone from a situation where we could lose one of our best players. That’s the reason why I said last night that’s why we need to try and move his personal situation forward. The board are aware of it and on the same page and I think it will only be a matter of time but basically that’s my job and it’s why I did what I did. It’s also to send a message we’re trying to build a team here. Everyone is working ever so hard to move the team forward, the last thing we need now is to lose a big piece of that jigsaw. Glen has been absolutely sensational since he’s come in. It’s not just about what you’ve got left on your contract, it’s about what you deserve, it’s about protecting yourself from the future, what could possibly happen. Glen is happy, he’s enjoying his football, he loves it here and he’s worked ever so hard, so for me it’s the right thing to do. Obviously the tournament getting delayed, we couldn’t control anything about that but one thing for sure is we had confidence Glen would go there and perform ever-so-well and we think he’ll do that in the future. We’re looking forward to him going to represent Rangers in a positive way. He’s a magnificent player, we appreciate what he does. He’s progressed, he’s moved on ever so well. He’s a fantastic kid to work with, he does everything right and I’d like to see him rewarded for that work. It’s only natural when you perform well domestically, when you’re putting in performances like last night consistently, it’s only normal there’s a lot of people looking in and there’s a lot of noise around Glen. He’s not the only one. At European level, if you’re performing well, from my experience, people are watching and moving in and it’s just about protecting ourselves.”
In short, these negotiations have actually been going on for the best part of two years, and the most intriguing part is how the language has changed.
Up till December last year it was all about Rangers in control, and rewarding Kamara for playing so well. Now it’s the Finn in control and Stevie’s language is different as of April:
“Glen is someone who we are still trying and talking to to commit here because he is a big player for us. Connor Goldson is the same.”
Kamara is holding all the aces here and we do find it very thought-provoking that one story has him joining Leeds, and the other claims he’s close to a deal at Ibrox.
Where are we going with this?
Trust none of it till Rangers make it official. Even your friends at Ibrox Noise do not get all the insider stuff in advance and sometimes we’re left completely guessing. This is one of those.
We do know Rangers rejected an £8M bid last winter for Kamara, but the contract deal is being kept very quiet.
We watch, and wait.