As last season wound to a close, Rangers fans felt John Lundstram might’ve had his mind on other things.
Whilst Philippe Clement insisted that the Scouser was fully committed to the Rangers cause, the Belgian manager also slaughtered Ross Wilson’s disastrous contract model.
With John Lundstram running down the final few months of his contract, Rangers had a title to win.
And yet the midfielder has just admitted he was off negotiating an exit to Turkey alongside Borna Barisic whilst Rangers discussions were shelved until the end of the campaign.
Lundstram signed Trabzonspor deal ‘very fast’
OK so John Lundstram was well within his rights to negotiate a deal elsewhere in the final six months of his Ibrox contract.
It’s not the midfielder’s fault that Rangers got into the habit of letting their highest-earners and most influential players tick down deals long after they’d hit their peak.
But the fact that Philippe Clement still wanted to sign John Lundstram despite his negotiations in Turkey doesn’t sit right following the latest comments from the player.
Claiming that he called his agent ‘very fast’ to strike a deal with Trabzsonspor after essentially being sold the gig by Borna Barisic, these comments are not a good look following the utter disaster that was the final few months of the season.
With Lundstram having one foot out the door, the midfielder had been accused of tuning out and his downturn in form did have a bearing on the season.
The less said about Celtic Park the better.
“I have Borna to thank,” Lundstram told Turkish outlet A Spor. “When he got the call about Trabzonspor, he also said the manager really likes me and the club would like to sign me.
“So I went home to speak to my wife and called my agent very fast to say let’s go.”
With Borna Barisic starting discussions with Trabzonspor at the beginning of March – over two months before the season ended – it’s not a good look.
It was only a couple of weeks later that we saw John Lundstram first linked to the Turkish club.
How can either player have claimed to be fully committed to the cause for Rangers when they were having their heads turned on the edge of Europe?
Rangers midfielder received teammate advice
John Lundstram also claims that he consulted Rangers left-back Ridvan Yilmaz about the move.
As Rangers’ treble bid was collapsing all-around, Lundstram and Barisic appear to have been discussing their exits with teammates.
“I’m a very good friend with Ridvan Yilmaz, so we spoke a lot about Turkey even before the interest from Trabzonspor,” said Lundstram.
“I wanted to know about the culture, about Besiktas and what the fans are like, because I hear that you guys are quite crazy.
“And, when I heard from Trabzonspor, I asked Ridvan and he said I’d love the club. So I was very comfortable with the decision.”
Glad to see you’re so happy lads.
When you were contributing to that disastrous run of one win in five Premiership games that cost us the title, it’s good to know you were excited about your holidays to Türkiye.
Borna Barisic and John Lundstram are one of five first-teamers who’ve left Ibrox at the end of their contracts.
