While Leon Balogun’s new contract puts an end to speculation about his future with the Rangers, many of his teammates remain unsettled.
After Rangers’ tragic Scottish Cup final loss to Celtic, was it a ‘goodbye’ or a’see you later’ from Abdallah Sima to the fans? That is still to be determined, the Brighton and Hove Albion loanee wanting to return but currently stuck in limbo.
Ryan Jack and John Lundstram will be free agents in July. The longer the quiet, the more probable it appears that the two will follow the long-serving left-back Borna Barisic out the door.
Barisic is set to join Trabzonspor.
The Turkish Super Lig team’s head coach, Abdullah Avci, indicated this week that Lundstram will be sharing a dressing room with the Croatian again next season, albeit on the banks of the Black Sea rather than the blue side of Glasgow.
“We are working hard on the transfer (of Lundstram),” Avci stated after Trabzonspor lost their own domestic cup final to Besiktas.
“There will be information about him soon.”
Big changes at Rangers this summer
The message to Krasnodar supporters waiting for details on their own potentially departing midfield talent is identical. According to Russian newspaper MetaRatings, Eduard Spertsyan’s destiny is expected to become clear after this weekend.
In April, HITC stated that Rangers were made aware of the availability of the silky Armenia international.Rangers’ chances of securing a big-money deal with a club in Russia during the Ukraine conflict are slim, given the price tag of around £13 million and interest from higher-level clubs.
According to MetaRatings, Borussia Dortmund sees Spertsyan as a potential successor to Marco Reus, a bona genuine club legend. Dortmund are set to explore a deal for the 24-year-old playmaker following Saturday’s Champions League final against Real Madrid, highlighting the enormity of the challenge Rangers would face in luring Spertsyan to Ibrox.
“I don’t know yet,” a dissatisfied Spertsyan told Match TV regarding his next move after Krasnodar finished narrowly behind Zenit St Petersburg at the top of the Russian Premier League.
Ibrox move seems improbable for Dortmund target.
Spertsyan was voted Russia’s Midfielder of the Year after scoring 11 goals and assisting seven times. He was compared to a youthful Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard due to his box-crashing abilities. He barely lost out on the Player of the Year accolade to Dynamo’s Konstantin Tyukavin.
That, however, was small consolation to a guy who seeks not individual accolades but the most prestigious titles in Russian football.
“I didn’t really have any tears (but) I was rather upset,” admits Spertsyan, hinting that he may stay in Krasnodar until he can lead his beloved club to victory.
“Hard to say (what went wrong in the championship race). There were numerous occasions when we lost points that we should not have. Only in the end do you believe that things could have turned out differently.
“We missed our last chance.”
Rangers, who are still mourning the loss of the Premiership and Scottish Cup, will understand Spertsyan’s feelings.
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