A couple gone within weeks- Barry Ferguson braced for exodus of Ibrox stars

Barry Ferguson is expecting to see a couple of big hitters make a rapid Ibrox exit in order to fund a rebuild. 

The former Alloa boss mentions Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent and Joe Aribo as they enter the final year of their contracts, Ryan Jack and Filip Helander can be added to that list. 

With 12 months left on a contract the player is very much in control of their destiny, if the offer doesn’t suit them they can dig in and walk off for free in the summer of 2023. 

Allan McGregor, Steve Davis and Leon Balogun will be out of contract next week with Ferguson highlighting the situation over Connor Goldson to the Daily Record as he outlines his plans for a rebuild:  

It’s all gone a bit quiet on the Connor Goldson front so we have to assume his time is up at Ibrox. That’s hugely disappointing because the big man has been an incredible servant over his four years at the club. 

He’s an asset who would still be worth a lot of money on the open market that is now heading out the door for nothing. 

But I don’t think the club execs can be blamed for keeping hold of him this season. He’s been so important to everything they’ve achieved and I’m not sure the team would have made it as far as Seville without him. 

Gio will now be sussing out the others to see if they see their long-term futures lie in Glasgow or elsewhere. 

But what the club can’t allow is a repeat of the Goldson situation. And I don’t think they will, certainly not with all three. They will have learned their lesson and if that means cashing in on a couple of them over the next few weeks then so be it. 

Scotland is a selling market and these guys all have valuations that Rangers can reap and re-invest. 

It will be hard for the fans to stomach if they have to wave goodbye to another two or three stars in one go. 

But Gio is such an astute, well-organised operator I’m certain he will have a list of fall-backs lined up if Morelos, Kent and Aribo can’t be persuaded to sign new deals. 

As the recent attention to Calvin Bassey proves the need to sell players from Ibrox this summer is absolutely desperate as they try to make up for Aaron Ramsey’s penalty miss. 

Morelos knows better than anyone that media speculation is very rarely followed up by concrete offers coming in for players.

With the ridiculously inflated fees being banded around it is going to be a tough task passing off bids of between £5-10m as being part of a business model with loan signings and free transfers being brought in as replacements.