Scottish Premiership giants Rangers sold Josh Windass to Championship outfit Wigan Athletic in the summer transfer window.
Rangers got rid of a number of first-team players this summer and there was little surprise when the likes of Carlos Pena, Fabio Cardoso and Michael O’Halloran were discarded. The departure of Josh Windass, however, certainly raised eyebrows.
Windass was one of Rangers’ key players in 2018/19, scoring 18 times to finish as the club’s joint top scorer with Alfredo Morelos. And Steven Gerrard, himself a goalscoring midfielder in his playing days, was expected to get the best out of the former Accrington Stanley talent.
Instead, however, Rangers sold Windass to Wigan Athletic on transfer deadline day for £2.5 million. And, speaking on talkSPORT, the 24-year-old admitted that he was disappointed about the way his Ibrox career came to an end.
“It was a strange one. I got a text saying Wigan had put a bid in and Rangers accepted it. I was a bit annoyed that Rangers accepted a bid that I didn’t think should’ve been accepted,” Windass told Jim White on talkSPORT (20 September, 12pm).
“I spoke to Steven, the conversation didn’t last too long and I drove down (to Wigan). The manger told me I’d be playing out wide and all my goals came from playing off the front (last season). For the sake of my career I need to be in a position where I can affect the game more.
“I kind of thought that I wasn’t wanted when the offer got accepted.”
For all his goals, Windass was never a universal fans’ favourite at Ibrox with many supporters critical of his work rate or ability to impact the game beyond fleeting moments of class.
And the current Latics ace didn’t exactly boost his reputation when he made a shushing gesture to his Rangers critics after scoring against Partick Thistle in February.
“I never took (the fans’ criticism) into account or took it into games, (the celebration) took off more than I thought it would,” Windass admitted.
“But you know what it’s like up there.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
