‘Will not renew contract’: Club announce Rangers’ target will go for free this summer.
Following speculations that Borna Barisic has already signed in principle to a move with Turkish club Trabzonspor, anticipate plenty of reports linking Rangers with new left-backs in the coming months. Owen Beck, Anass Salah-Eddine, Fredrik Oppegard, and several more players, including Hearts-bound James Penrice, have been mooted as prospective additions to Philippe Clement’s team since the beginning of the year.
A January deal for Jefte Vital, meanwhile, could have been completed if APOEL Nicosia had not been reluctant to finish the Fluminense-owned defender’s loan spell in Cyprus.
Borna Barisic should be replaced by Rangers. Rangers might yet return for Jefte in the summer, as Barisic’s contract expires on July 1st.
Another left-back regarded as a prospective replacement for the long-serving replacement will become a free agent in a few months. And one of the worst-kept secrets in Dutch football has been revealed, with FC Twente announcing on their official website that Gijs Smal, who has been connected with Rangers in both Scotland and the Netherlands, will be leaving Enschede at the end of the current season. “Ricky van Wolfwinkel, Joshua Brenet, and Gijs Smal have expiring contracts,” according to the statement. “Gijs Smal has indicated that he will not renew his contract at FC Twente and will, in principle, leave the club at the end of the season.”
Twente adds that they are still in talks to keep striker Van Wolfswinkel. The Eredivisie high-flyers look to have conceded defeat in terms of Smal, a midfielder worth roughly £2.5 million after topping the league’s assist charts last season, who appears to have made up his mind.
Now, everything points to Feyenoord, rather than Ibrox, as Smal’s ultimate destination. However, as long as there is no official confirmation of his transfer to the reigning Dutch champions, Clement’s team cannot be completely thrown out of contention. Feyenoord’s relocation has not yet been announced. “Of course, my phone exploded (when the speculation surfaced). “I put it away after fifteen minutes,” Smal told ESPN a few weeks back.
“I found it amazing that something like this would come out at all, given that there is nothing yet. Look, I would be lying if I said I had never communicated with them (Feyenoord). I’m a free transfer, so I’m gathering my bearings. “I’ve also been in touch with other clubs. Only now are they claiming I am already a Feyenoord player, which is plain false.”
According to Turkish rumors, Trabzonspor is aiming to bring John Lundstram to the Black Sea shores with Barisic. Lundstram, too, is out of contract this summer, and losing one of Rangers’ most influential players would be a huge blow. Rangers already have a quality left-back ready to take over the role from the improving Ridvan Yilmaz.
