McKay left Rangers after showing glimpses of what could have been.
Sunday’s win over Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts saw a lot of Steven Gerrard’s Rangers signings come to the fore in what was the club’s best performance of the season – most notably Ryan Kent.
The Liverpool loanee was a constant thorn Hearts’ side throughout the entire match, opening the scoring in the third minute and helping get Hearts right-back Michael Smith sent off.
His skill, pace and ability on the ball are traits that Rangers have been looking for since returning to the Scottish Premiership, wowing fans with his attacking style of play as well as his hard-working determination.
The 21-year-old boasts all of the traits that fans were hoping to see from academy product Barrie McKay, only for the Scotland international to fail to show the consistency required to impress in the top tier of Scottish football.
McKay clocked up 140 appearances for Rangers, but only scored five times in 36 Scottish Premiership matches. He has since moved to Nottingham Forest, Olympiakos, and then back to these shores with Swansea City.
The former Gers number 10 showed in glimpses that he was capable of becoming a real player for Rangers, but failed to turn those moments into proper consistent form.
Kent has since replaced him on the wing at Rangers, and is beginning to show the consistency and quality that McKay could only ever show here and there.
Fans will be hoping that Kent is the player that had dreamt of in McKay – a man to score goals, create goals and add proper quality in the final third for Gerrard’s side.
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