With so many key players entering the final few months of their contract at Ibrox, the last thing Mick Beale needs, ahead of his anticipated return to Glasgow, is to see another integral member of this Rangers squad head for the exit in the New Year.
According to Tutto Salernitana, one Serie A outfit (no prizes for guessing which one, given the title of the aforementioned publication) are hoping to lure Glen Kamara away from Glasgow in January.
Ironically enough, the £10 million-rated Finland international has been identified by Salernitana as a player capable of providing competition for his one-time Ibrox team-mate, Lassana Coulibaly.
Ryan Jack, Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent, Scott Arfield, Steven Davis and Filip Helander are all due to become free-agents in eight months’ time as things stand. In fact, Kamara is one of only a handful players left over from Beale’s first spell at the club tied down to a long-term deal.
His contract runs until the summer of 2025.
Will Mick Beale convince Glen Kamara to stay at Rangers amid Serie A interest?
And, given how substantial a role Kamara played during the reign of Beale and Steven Gerrard, the one-time Arsenal youngster should only benefit from the 42-year-old’s return, especially after falling out of favour during the final few months of the Giovanni van Bronckhorst era.
Furthermore, per Sky Sports, Beale plans to bring QPR’s Neil Banfield with him to Ibrox. Banfield, a one-time Arsenal youth coach, played a major role in Kamara’s development before he left North London for a fresh start in Scotland.
“A lovely footballer. Top person also,” Beale wrote on Twitter back in February, when he was still working alongside Gerrard at Aston Villa.
Will Beale’s return convince Kamara to reject the advances of an ambitious Serie A outfit? Reports from Italy claiming that AC Milan have offered Tiemoue Bakayoko to Salernitana – with the Rossoneri hoping to get the former Chelsea misfit off their wage bill – may be music to Beale’s ears, given the stylistic similarities between Bakayoko and Kamara.
If Salernitana take up Milan’s offer and sign the former, that would almost certainly spell the end of their interest in the latter.
Gerrard’s sacking at Aston Villa last month seemed to draw a line under any hopes Kamara may have had of joining the former Gers boss in the Premier League. And, should Bakayoko put pen to paper with Salernitana, this could see another window of opportunity slam on the midfielder’s fingers.
Much to Beale’s presumed delight.
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