While there were previous rumours Alex Lowry was to be used as a makeweight in a potential deal for Lawrence Shankland, the Rangers playmaker’s underwhelming spell at Hearts and subsequent loan termination at Tynecastle is a worrying indictment of where his career is going.

Clearly, Hearts weren’t impressed, and Rangers certainly can’t use the boy as currency to sweeten the deal for the Gorgie captain, because quite simply they’ve dumped him.

Hearts terminated Lowry’s loan, and Rangers have been saddled back with the attacker who really has lost his way in football and seeks his next loan from the Ibrox side, which is a likely indication Philippe Clement has absolutely no interest in him.

Where has it gone wrong for Lowry?

In truth, it never actually strictly went right for the boy.

He showed a couple of glimpses in cameos for Rangers, a little bit of talent, but nothing that screamed how much better he was than anything else Rangers had.

Indeed, that three Rangers managers showed little to modest interest in him, with Giovanni van Bronckhorst showing by far the most, demonstrated the only subtle stock he had with the club.

Of course, the injuries didn’t help – he had quite a few, missing that entire preseason 2022 through injury, the same one that ended Filip Helander’s Rangers career, incidentally.

But on his opportunities, which were limited, he offered only modest levels of quality and a distinct lack of power. This was something he was to work on that summer of 22 – bulking up, but he always seemed to maintain that rather slender overall frame.

And off the pitch he experienced the tragedy of losing his mother at a young age, which is a world-changer for any of those who have been so unfortunate to lose a parent before the natural order of things.

That would definitely affect someone’s mental state for sure.

But there were also clear indications the lad had issues with attitude too – we’re not going into specifics here, but that he could not hold down a place at Hearts nor become a vital cog in their machine despite managing a reasonable 4 assists in 17 appearances (one goal) is a pretty big giveaway.

There is some ability in Alex Lowry, but it’s hardly Kaka level, and what there is seems to be getting lost in among the baggage.

Lowry needs a fresh start. He doesn’t need the pressure of Rangers and he needs a club and league he can find his best in.

Maybe one day he’ll be a lot better than the sum of his parts.