Glasgow Rangers don’t need Michael O’Halloran it seems, so why is he back at Ibrox?
Graeme Murty told The Scottish Sun today that Michael O’Halloran does have a future at Rangers.
The 27-year-old attacker hasn’t played a single minute for the Gers since returning from his half-season loan at St Johnstone and hasn’t even been included in a matchday squad for a competitive game.
But Murty told The Scottish Sun that all is not lost for O’Halloran, who joined Rangers for £500,000 under Mark Warburton three years ago.
He said: “Michael has to shift the person who’s currently playing. There’s your challenge – go and get past Josh Windass, Jamie Murphy and Daniel Candeias.
“It’s a hard task, but I’m glad to hear he’s up for the fight because getting into our squad should be difficult.”
O’Halloran was doing well at St Johnstone, who wanted him back according to manager Tommy Wright, and you wonder whether it would have made more sense to let him re-join on loan.
The Scot, who scored five times in the first half of the season, is going to waste at the moment but at least another good four or five months on loan would have enabled Rangers to ask for a bigger fee this summer.
But if O’Halloran’s first-team prospects don’t improve until the end of the season, surely Murty will have to accept a paltry amount for a player who could have bolstered his value at McDiarmid Park until May.
For now, it looks pretty unlikely that Rangers will need O’Halloran and you have to wonder whether keeping him instead of letting him re-join the Saints on loan has actually cost the Ibrox club money.
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