Micky Beale explains why five top stars left Ibrox for free

Micky Beale has revealed how he stalled on the future of five players that have left Ibrox as free agents.

Last summer Ross Wilson was unable to agree new contracts or the transfer of stars such as Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent.

Once a player is into the final nine months of their contract they are in complete control, counting down the days until they can negotiate a move elsewhere without the need for a transfer fee.

No sales were completed in January with the Ibrox boss down five significant players as he attempts to create a team capable of stopping Celtic from winning trophies.

Picking up on an interview with Sky Sports, Glasgow Live reports Beale saying:

When I came back into the club, the players that were out of contract all of them had different things going on. My focus at the time when I came back in was to have an initial conversation and agreed with them all to get to the March international break.

Let’s do what is right for Rangers and the fans and get the team back on track. Then at March we sat and spoke to everybody again.

They’ve had clarity for a good while now. We’ve all been on the same page. There is an element that I agree with one or two that it is time for a change and everybody on the board does as well.

I spoke last week. Allan [McGregor] it is a natural thing with his age and Scott Arfield pulled on the heart strings as I felt he could still have a part to play but when you sit and talk about what Scott needs and what Rangers need, we couldn’t meet in the right place. It ended amicably. In terms of Fil [Filip Helander] he’s been injured a long time.

And in terms of Ryan [Kent] and Alfredo [Morelos] I felt they both needed a change and I think they both agreed as well. I don’t know where either player is planning to go. I don’t think it is sorted right now in the conversations I have had, but they left with a big hug and out the front door and that was important to me.

Beale could have tackled the issues in January but opted to create impressive stats on his CV while delaying a massive rebuild into one transfer window.