Scottish Premiership giants Rangers could lose Niko Kranjcar – but must give U20 ace Jamie Barjonas a bigger role at Ibrox.
Niko Kranjcar arrived at Ibrox alongside Joey Barton and Philippe Senderos in the summer of 2016, purporting to bring bring-game experience and leadership to Rangers.
But like his fellow veterans, the Croatian playmaker has not made the impact he would have hoped for in Scotland. Kranjcar missed the majority of his debut season with a serious knee injury and, after falling out of favour under Graeme Murty, has made only one appearance since the turn of the year – against Fraserburgh in the Scottish Cup.
Kranjcar’s father Zlatko has hinted that the 33-year-old could even retire at the end of the season when his contract runs out.
“After his major injury, he still gets a lot of pain in his knee. He still suffers from water in the knee,” Kranjcar senior said, as quoted by the Scottish Sun.
“But he is still under contract with Rangers. You would have to ask him whether he will continue when his contract expires in the summer.”
It could be the case of ‘out with the old’ then at Rangers, but will ‘in with the new’ follow?
The presence of a high-earning veteran like Kranjcar has somewhat stifled the development of the young talent within Rangers’ squad – such as Jamie Barjonas for instance. The technically gifted 19-year-old, who signed a contract until 2020 in November, is arguably the jewel of The Gers’ renowned academy right now.
After featuring sporadically under Pedro Caixinha, he has been a more regular fixture under Graeme Murty with five Scottish Premiership appearances under his radar this season.
Like Aiden White, Ross McCrorie and co, Barjonas has the natural talent to be a first-team player, and the departure of Kranjcar should surely go a long way to giving the U20 ace the opportunity he so deserves.
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