Rangers loan trio Jose Cifuentes, Ianis Hagi, and Sam Lammers have all experienced different fates whilst out on temporary stints away from Ibrox.
These are three players with sizeable pedigree in the game and for whatever reason, they’ve been deemed surplus to requirements in the Rangers squad.
But with things not always going to plan away from Ibrox, the three are still contracted to Rangers for a substantial length of time and will need to decide their futures come the summer window.
It means Philippe Clement’s got some big decisions to make in the coming months.
Especially when you consider that per annum – according to Salary Sport at least – the trio cost Rangers the guts of £3m.
Here, we look at the prospective futures of Ibrox’s loan Rangers and what’s next for all three of them.
Jose Cifuentes faces loan Rangers future
Jose Cifuentes’ loan move to Cruzeiro is certainly an interesting one.
Not least becase the Ecuadorean international midfielder has only just made his second start for the Brazilian club.
Playing the entire match in the club’s 0-0 Copa Sudamericana draw with Chilean side Union la Calera, it’s his first start since playing former club Universidad Católica in the competition’s opening game.
It’s not been a disastrous loan spell by any means but with the switch to run until next January – and Cruzeiro having a £2.5m option-to-buy – you get the impression Cifuentes will have to do more to earn a permanent switch.
Should he fail to do so – a very real prospect going by his lack of starts – then the Ecuadorean will return to Rangers 18 months into a four-year deal.
Having signed from LAFC last summer, Jose Cifuentes couldn’t get out of Glasgow quick enough and we don’t suspect he’s in a rush to come back.
Ianis Hagi heading back to Ibrox
Ianis Hagi is another who forced his way out of Rangers this season, but for slightly different reasons than his Ecuadorean counterpart.
The Romanian playmaker, 25, was desperate for minutes after finally recovering from a devastating ACL injury but Michael Beale refused to give the player assurances.
As a result Ianis Hagi forced through a move to Alavés in La Liga and it looked like his Rangers career was history.
Until now.
Ianis Hagi has failed to fully grab his chance in Spain and after finding himself out of the Alavés side, famous father Gheorghe has been claiming he’ll be back in Govan in the summer.
Still holding a strong affinity with Rangers, Philippe Clement will get the chance to run the rule over Ianis Hagi before a call is made on his immediate future.
Ianis is coming back alright – we just don’t know for how long.
Sam Lammers tearing it up in Holland
Sam Lammers is undoubtedly the biggest success story of these three loan Rangers.
But what a shame the Dutchman wasn’t a success in Glasgow.
Signed for a not inconsiderable £3m in the summer transfer window, Sam Lammers arrived with a decent amount of fanfare after toiling in Italy with Atalanta.
But it was the same old story in Glasgow for the forward, who struggled to properly impact games, missing some big chances in the blue jersey of Rangers.
Come January, the Rangers attacking midfielder was transformed into a Utrecht striker and since then, Lammers hasn’t looked back.
Scoring in six consecutive Eredivisie games to match a 40-year-old record at Utrecht, the forward has now netted eight goals in total for the Dutch team.
As a result, a return to Rangers looks very unlikely with Dutch football apparently Sam Lammers’ happy place.
The likes of Feyenoord have been linked with Rangers said to be demanding around £2.5m for the striker.
