Davie Provan suggests Gerrard will be forced into a Rangers rebuild this summer

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Rangers are still aiming to bring the Scottish Premiership title back to Ibrox.

Pundit Davie Provan has told The Scottish Sun that he thinks Rangers must be looking at a rebuild during this summer’s transfer window.

The Gers entered 2019 in fine fettle having beaten Celtic in their final game of 2018, laying down a real marker in their quest for the Scottish Premiership title.

However, Rangers were immediately brought crashing back down to earth after the winter break, as they lost 2-1 away at Kilmarnock on Wednesday night.

With Celtic beating St Mirren and Hamilton Academical, Rangers are now six points off the pace in the Scottish Premiership title race, slipping down to fourth place in the blink of an eye.

The situation is made even worse because Rangers put their money in experienced performers earlier this month, signing Jermain Defoe and Steven Davies on loan from Bournemouth and Southampton.

Rangers’ business was clearly geared towards winning the title, and missing out may leave a burning hole in the club’s finances for this summer and beyond.

Now, pundit Davie Provan has suggested that Alfredo Morelos will certainly be sold this summer, and Steven Gerrard must plan for a rebuild this summer given the age of his players and a host of loanees set to return.

“They’re mortgaging this campaign against Alfredo Morelos, who’ll be sold this summer,” said Provan. “But it’s hard to see how Rangers can sustain a challenge beyond this season. The average age of their starting XI against Kilmarnock was north of 29, with five over-30s in the team.”

“With Morelos a cert to move in the next window and loanees returning to their clubs, Gerrard is looking at a rebuild next season. Having already pushed the boat out for this campaign, where do Gers find the cash next time around? The Ibrox balance sheet already resembles a train wreck,” he added.

Allan McGregor, Gareth McAuley, Steven Davis, Scott Arfield and Jermain Defoe are all in their 30’s, whilst Joe Worrall, Lassana Coulibaly, Ryan Kent, Davis, Defoe are only on loan.

That may leave Gerrard with a big task on his hands either this summer or in 2020, and the expected exit of Morelos will also leave a major hole to fill, with winning the title and potentially returning to the Champions League certainly preferred in order to deal with these issues.