A summer of huge 10-player flux in defence for Rangers

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A summer of huge 10-player flux in defence for Rangers
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MAY 05: Calvin Bassey of Rangers celebrates their sides victory in the UEFA Europa League Semi Final Leg Two match between Rangers and RB Leipzig at Ibrox Stadium on May 05, 2022 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

There is little doubt defence is now an area of huge uncertainty for Rangers. There is potentially a lot of change at the back, and Ibrox Noise now takes you through everything that’s going on.

James Tavernier:

Nothing. Unless we get a massive bid for the Europa League’s top scorer and statistically one of the world’s best RBs, he is one player who is definitely staying.

Mateusz Zukowski:

Hard to say – he’s faded even from being a bench player recently, and has been absent from training. We guess he’s injured but he’s very much a forgotten man.

Connor Goldson:

Looks certain to leave, isn’t signing a new deal, and unless there’s a big change of heart, there will be a big change at the heart of defence.

John Souttar:

Goldson’s replacement? Had an excellent match on Saturday and Rangers fans properly got to see the player who will be arriving in Govan soon. We’re looking forward to what he can do in our shirt.

Leon Balogun:

Wants to stay, but he’s out of contract and frequently injured. We do not know if he’s in the club’s plans and we’d be surprised if he was. We like him, but he’s unavailable too often.

Filip Helander:

Can thank his lucky stars his contract runs till next summer because he’s been a complete sicknote since he joined – if he was out of contract he’d stand no chance of a renewal. Great defender but has managed less than 70 appearances in over 3 years. Might actually be freed, in truth. We’ll see.

Calvin Bassey:

His epic performances in both finals have raised Europe’s attention to him, and he is very vulnerable if a big bid comes in. We’d be very surprised if one doesn’t.

Nikola Katic:

He’s injured out in Croatia but he’s had a good season – as of 25th May, he will pretty much be our player again, following the Croat cup final which he probably won’t be part of. We don’t think he’s part of Gio’s plans either, and like Helander he can be thankful his deal runs for another year. But we’ll see.

Borna Barisic:

If a reasonable bid comes in he’ll be off. He’s been coming and going for a while now and while in form he’s the best LB in the country, the rise of Calvin Bassey has undermined him a lot. A lot better at crossing than the Nigerian, Barisic has a lot more to give, but he’s another likely to move on.

Danilho Doehki:

Euro reports alleged he’d chosen Union Berlin but we don’t really know. He’s another on Gio’s radar and the Dutch stopper, currently at Vitesse, may still arrive in Govan this summer.

It will be a window of change at the back, or Gio could prove us totally wrong and keep things as they are.

That would be a big surprise but trust in the manager.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. We need to replace Goldson with a big scary 6’4” defender. If it’s not to be Katic then we need to find another. I see Souttar as more of a partner than a direct replacement.

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