Glasgow Rangers manager Philippe Clement faces an interesting summer ahead, particularly in terms of improving his squad.
The Belgian did sign three players during the January transfer window, and while Mohamed Diomande will make his loan move permanent in the summer, Fabio Silva and Oscar Cortes will return to their parent clubs.
The trio are all under 22, proving that Clement is looking to go down the route of signing talented prospects who could thrive at this level, before moving them on for a solid profit after a couple of years.
Not only does he have the task of bringing new talent in across various positions in his first team squad, but the 50-year-old will have to manage his outgoings well too.
At the end of the current season, six Rangers players are out of contact, with the vast majority of them expected to depart Ibrox, which will free up some wages for Clement to use in the transfer window.
Rangers players out of contract this summer
The Ibrox side find themselves in a similar position to last season, with a host of first-team players entering the final few weeks of their current deals as the climax of the campaign approaches.
Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos, and Scott Arfield were among the names released in 2023, while there are more big names this year.
Player
Games played
Club joined from
John Lundstram
145
Sheffield United
Ryan Jack
210
Aberdeen
Kemar Roofe
98
Anderlecht
Leon Balogun
79 (across two spells)
QPR
Jon McLaughlin
46
Sunderland
Borna Barisic
231
NK Osijek
John Lundstram, Ryan Jack, Borna Barisic, Jon McLaughlin, Kemar Roofe and Leon Balogun are the six players whose futures remain undecided as yet, but it looks fairly certain that aside from Lundstram, the rest will be on the lookout for a new club this summer.
The former Sheffield United midfielder has established himself as one of the first names on the team sheet, while the other five have made 86 appearances between them this season.
Clement could be set to add another midfielder or two to his first-team squad during the summer, which means Jack will most likely be released.
Ryan Jack’s Rangers statistics
Jack could end up winning the treble during what may be his final season at Ibrox, despite injury issues hampering him throughout 2023/24.
Indeed, he has only started 12 matches all season due to a variety of injury problems and this has meant his influence in the team has decreased, especially over the previous few years.
The Scot has made 210 appearances for the Light Blues since joining from Aberdeen in 2017 on a free transfer and there is no doubt he has been a wonderful signing in terms of value for money.
This season, however, Jack has averaged just 42 minutes per game in the Premiership across his 11 appearances, succeeding with 87% of his passes, creating two big chances, losing possession just 4.6 times per game and winning 0.5 total duels per game.
Hardly the worst statistics in the world, but his lack of game time has meant the midfielder has failed to build on any decent performances due to his crippling injury-related issues forcing him out of the majority of games.
The best course of action would have been for the club to sell him last summer in order to secure a transfer fee, while retaining the services of Glen Kamara, who was certainly an upgrade on Jack.
How much Rangers sold Glen Kamara for
Under Michael Beale, Kamara was often excluded from the starting XI during the second half of the 2022/23 campaign, making just nine league starts as it was clear he wasn’t going to be in Beale’s plans for the following season.
Having cost just £50k back in 2019, the Gers accepted a bid of close to £5m for the midfielder during the dying embers of the transfer window last summer, showing that they made a massive profit on the former Dundee man.
During his spell in Glasgow, Kamara made 193 appearances for the Light Blues, scoring nine goals in the process, and was a key member of the side that won the league title in 2020/21 while reaching the Europa League final the following season.
Steven Gerrard hailed the Finnish gem as a “monster” during the early stages of his stint at Rangers and his presence in the heart of the midfield made the club stronger.
During the Europa League run, Kamara scored once and grabbed two assists, while winning an impressive 56% of his total duels per game along with making 1.2 interceptions per game and losing possession just 7.1 times each match.
Under Clement, he may have enjoyed his football again and featured on a more regular basis, but Beale clearly felt a fee of nearly £5m was too good to turn down.
Kamara is enjoying life so far at Leeds United and it's clear these performances would have made him an upgrade on Jack if he had replicated them in Glasgow.
What Glen Kamara is doing now
The 28-year-old has missed only four Championship games for Leeds this term, inspiring them to a title challenge as they look to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Across the whole squad, Kamara currently ranks fourth for accurate passes per game (52), while also ranking fifth for key passes per game (1.2) and 17th for possession lost per game (6.3), indicating that he is back to his best in England this season.
There is no doubt that the former Arsenal starlet would have been an excellent option for Clement to call upon at Rangers, especially when the club were going through a tough injury crisis around the festive period.
Beale was sacked just a month after selling Kamara, which proves that the sale may have been avoidable had he not been in charge.
Hopefully, he can help Leeds secure promotion back to the top flight after just one season in the second tier, and it is evident he is playing under a manager who trusts him to perform on a weekly basis.
He was far too good to be sitting on the bench at a club like Rangers, and he could fulfil his ambitions of playing in one of the finest leagues in Europe next season.
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