Many Rangers supporters want Barrie McKay to remain at Ibrox – though Hearts’ goalscoring winger Jamie Walker could be an improvement.
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha
There’s a very real chance that the Rangers’ starting XI who played the final match of the 2016/17 season will be almost unrecognisable to the one sent out by Pedro Caixinha on the opening day of next season.
And Rangers may be edging closer to one of the most eye-catching summer deals north of the border. The Daily Mail claims that Jamie Walker has told Hearts that he wants to leave Tynecastle this summer with Rangers making their interest known.
The winger netted 15 times in all competitions last season and is everything Rangers are crying out for. With just twelve months remaining on his current contract, Hearts may be powerless to prevent Walker moving to Ibrox this summer and kick-starting Caixinha’s revolution.
Hearts’ Jamie Walker won the club’s Player of the Year award
And this may well signal the end of Barrie McKay’s time in Glasgow. The Daily Record reports that, although the 22-year-old is one of Rangers’ most exciting young players in many a year and wants to remain at the club, they will listen to offers of just £2 million this summer.
Many supporters would be unhappy to see McKay go at this tender age but, if Hearts manager Ian Cathro is anything to go by, Rangers could be getting the better of the deal.
Former Newcastle United assistant coach Ian Cathro
“I wouldn’t swap him for any of them,” Cathro told the Daily Record when asked if he’d exchange Walker for McKay or Celtic’s James Forrest.
“Jamie is the only one I want out of them. Fortunately, he’s here.”
Not for much longer perhaps. Despite playing in a similar position, McKay netted just four goals last season and was dropped by Caixinha for a number of big games.
Rangers’ Barrie McKay
Walker, on paper, could represent an upgrade.
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