Could Umar Sadiq leave Rangers in January after poor start?

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Rangers manager Steven Gerrard had his say on Umar Sadiq, who has played 17 minutes of Scottish Premiership football since arriving from AS Roma.

It does not look good for Umar Sadiq at Rangers right now.

The Nigerian striker has only made one substitute appearance in the Scottish Premiership since arriving at Ibrox on loan from Serie A club Roma.

Sadiq was not even included in the 18-man squad to play against League Cup opponents Ayr United on Wednesday night, with manager Steven Gerrard telling the Daily Record after the 4-0 win that the striker needs to improve ‘an awful lot’.

With Alfredo Morelos and Kyle Lafferty already ahead of him in the pecking order, Sadiq seems to be fighting a losing battle.

As it stands, it would be little surprise if he returned to Italy as early as January. After all, Sadiq is highly regarded at Roma and they loaned him to Rangers in the hope that regular game-time in Scotland would help speed up his development.

But with Sadiq out of favour, what is the point of Roma letting him toil in the Rangers reserves? His spell at Ibrox is quickly turning into a race against time, and the Italian side would perhaps be better off sending him to a club where he is more likely to start in the New Year.

After all, another six months with Rangers U20s is not what Roma would have been hoping for.