How much of a clear out that Philippe Clement will oversee at Rangers remains to be seen this summer, but it looks like one regular in his starting XI has all but been confirmed as leaving.
The manager isn’t happy that so many players are out of contract and it is a problem that he will want to rectify so that the club doesn’t lose money unnecessarily.
The immediate priority is the Scottish Cup final for Philippe Clement in which it could be the last appearance for one of Rangers most polarising players.
Rangers exit nears for John Lundstram
As reported by Turkish media outlet Haber 61, John Lundstram has all but been confirmed as a Trabzonspor player.
Reading between the lines, it looks like the Super Lig side are paying Rangers the respect of not announcing the deal until the cup final has been played.
After losing 3-2 to Besiktas in the Turkish Cup final, Trabzonspor coach Abdullah Avcı said:
“We are working intensively regarding the transfer. There are also those with whom we have come a long way. There will be information about him soon . ”
When he has been good, he has been very good.
The problem, has been that Lundstram’s range from his good days to his bad days is as wide as it can get.
Take the last derby at Parkhead as an example.
Technically, according to WhoScored.com, it was the single worst performance by a Scottish Premiership player this season.
And that was before he got sent off for a needless tackle.
One last dance for Lundstram?
Injury to Ridvan Yilmaz will probably see Dujon Sterling drafted in at left-back which means that Lundstram is more likely to get his place back in the middle of midfield after missing the last two games.
Nicolas Raskin has been fine, however, Philippe Clement won’t be swayed by fan opinion when picking his team.
What has to be remembered too, is that during Rangers impressive run to the top of the league table, Lundstram was arguably the best outfield player.
After arriving under Steven Gerrard, the 30-year old’s time at Rangers appears to be up.
Ironically, it could end up being a blessing in disguise with Clement needing to recruit a ‘proper’ number six who can protect the defence and build attacks.
There will always be the memory of games like Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig for John Lundstram when he owned Thursday nights, unfortunately, that Rangers player wasn’t seen often enough against the likes of Ross County.
