A Rangers spell next season could be the making of Ethan Hamilton

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Scottish Premiership giants Rangers were hoping to lure both Ethan Hamilton and Scott McTominay to Ibrox from Manchester United.

Scott McTominay started the biggest game of his young career on Wednesday night.

The 21-year-old was an eye-catching inclusion in Jose Mourinho’s starting XI as Manchester United travelled to Sevilla in the Champions League last 16, with club-record signing Paul Pogba left on the bench.

And McTominay impressed, too, a rare bright spark in a disappointing United performance which ended in a rather fortunate 0-0 draw. It is pretty clear, then, that Rangers had no real chance of luring the highly-rated Carrington graduate to Ibrox during the January transfer window.

But the other Old Trafford prospect that the Sun claimed was on Rangers’ radar, Ethan Hamilton, might just have benefited from a loan spell north of the border.

The young Scot has been tipped for big things at United but so far is yet to make his first-team debut. He was included on the bench for the 2-0 FA Cup win against Huddersfield Town on Saturday but the former under-18 captain was only there because of Pogba’s sudden illness.

A central midfielder also adept at left-back and on the wing, Hamilton appears to be some way behind McTominay in Mourinho’s first-team plans. And with precious few opportunities to impress between now and the end of the season, Rangers could do worse than keep an eye on his performances for the under-23s.

Old Firm rivals Celtic have benefited immensely from loaning talented youngsters from a number of Premier League giants, see Patrick Roberts and Charly Musonda, and Rangers should consider doing the same.