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Rangers transfer policy questioned by Ibrox legend
Derek Ferguson believes Rangers have been “guilty” of overlooking some of Scottish football’s most exciting young talent – insisting his old club should be making a serious effort to sign Motherwell starlet Lennon Miller.
The former Gers midfielder believes the Fir Park sensation is one of the best teenage prospects in the top-flight at present and is exactly the type of player that Philippe Clement needs to be targeting this summer.
Ferguson remains bemused as to why the Ibrox side haven’t opened talks with the Steelmen over the 17-year-old, with the player firmly on their transfer radar for the past 12 months. He reckons a lack of any concrete developments in their pursuit to land the Scotland youth international is a major concern.
“Sometimes I scratch my head,” Ferguson told Ibrox News. “This boy has been on the radar for the last year or so, I’ve known that. So why, talking from a Rangers perspective, would you leave it so long? You’d be making contact with Motherwell trying to sort some sort of package out.
“You want to get the best young players in Scotland signed with your club, and I think we’ve been guilty of not doing that. But Lennon Miller is one of the best young prospects in Scottish football without a doubt, so why Rangers have not already tried to tie that deal up I’m not so sure.”
Could Rangers still sign Lennon Miller?
Philippe Clement recently addressed the need to recruit more home grown Scottish players to benefit Rangers in European competition. The Light Blues have frequently struggled to scrape together eight Scottish players to meet UEFA’s quota this season, with at least four needing to come from their academy system.
Fans often demand that the conveyor belt of developing talent continues to unearth hidden gems and improve the situation, but a potentially quicker fix is looking at players who already tick that box.
Perhaps part of the problem in their lack of ambition to sign Lennon Miller could stem from the turnover in managers over the past three years at Ibrox. Clement may feel that Miller would be better served staying at Fir Park for the time being to continue his development further, but the same could’ve been said for Bailey Rice who has barely had a look-in at first-team level since the Belgian boss replaced Michael Beale.