Rangers could be set to lose one of their long-term stalwarts this summer after it emerged he is ‘close to signing’ for another club already.
Possible Rangers exits this summer
It promises to be a summer of change at Ibrox this summer, with plenty of names being linked with moves away.
Though it has been less than a vintage season, Philippe Clement’s side are now in with great a chance of lifting the Scottish Premiership title should they be able to make up the one-point gap on Celtic by winning their game in hand.
Scottish Premiership table | ||||||
Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goal difference | Points |
Celtic | 30 | 22 | 5 | 3 | 48 | 71 |
Rangers | 29 | 23 | 1 | 5 | 48 | 70 |
However, beyond that, Rangers could be set to lose all of Ryan Jack, John Lundstram and Kemar Roofe on free transfers, with the trio out of contract at the end of the current campaign.
They have also seen shot-stopper Jack Butland linked with a move away, and there are more that could follow. However, one move could already be in the closing stages.
Barisic close to Rangers exit after offer received
Now, it has emerged that Borna Barisic may not be at Rangers beyond this summer barring a drastic change in circumstances.
The 31-year-old defender has found himself in and out of the side under Clement this season, with just 13 Scottish Premiership starts to his name so far this campaign and clearly not fancied by the current Rangers boss.
It flies in the face of previous managers, with Steven Gerrard having been particularly keen on the Croatian defender during his stint at Ibrox.
“Borna was outstanding last night. He is the Croatian left-back and he is used to these high-pressure games. He is very highly respected by the staff and in the dressing room.”
However, the defender now seems set for an ignominious end to his career in Glasgow, with the veteran out of contract this summer and not set to pen a new deal, paving the way for him to leave for free.
Previous reports claimed that the full-back was in talks over a move away, and that seems to have ramped up in recent days.
In fact, he is now ‘close to signing’ for Turkish outfit Trabzonspor, according to a report relayed by Sport Witness. The Croatian has ‘given the green light’ after receiving an offer and is their no.1 priority for the left-back spot, something that no longer seems to be the case at Rangers.
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The Scottish Premiership giants are already planning summer business.
With a deal thought to be ‘close’, the move could well be formalised before the end of the campaign, though of course, he will not don his new side’s colours until the Scottish Premiership season is concluded, with Barisic set to be a free agent from July 1st.
For their part, Rangers are thought to be working on a deal for a new left-back themselves, though they missed out on one of their targets last week. For now, however, everyone’s focus is likely to be solely on bringing the Scottish Premiership back to the blue half of Glasgow in the coming months.