Rangers rocked by David Bates departure; time to target three top Scottish talents

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Rangers are set to see David Bates leave Ibrox this summer.

Rangers have been rocked today, as defender David Bates has decided to leave the club at the end of the season, having penned a four-year deal with Hamburg on a pre-contract agreement.

The Gers have tied up new deals for the likes of Wes Foderingham, James Tavernier, Josh Windass and Alfreod Morelos this season, but the situation with Bates has been rumbling on for months.

Bates, 20, was a fairly unheralded signing from Raith Rovers back in the summer of 2016, but he has become a key first-team player at Ibrox, growing into one of Scottish football’s top young defenders.

With his contract expiring this summer, fans have been pleading for Rangers to get a deal done with Bates – but he has instead decided to try his luck in Germany, joining Hamburg even though they look set for relegation from the Bundesliga.

Bates’ exit leaves Rangers with a major problem in defence, as Bruno Alves is ageing and may be on his way out this summer, Fabio Cardoso has been a flop since signing last summer, Russell Martin is only on loan from Norwich City and Ross McCrorie is still a precocious young talent.

Rangers must now focus on signing a new centre back this summer, and having prioritised signing Scottish players in January, they must do the same to replace Bates, eyeing up Barnsley’s Liam Lindsay, Aberdeen’s Scott McKenna or Hearts’ John Souttar.

Lindsay looks set for relegation from the Championship with Barnsley, and Rangers should be looking to offer the former Partick Thistle talent a return to Scotland. With great height and aerial ability, Lindsay is an impressive young centre back with aspirations far beyond League One, but would be the most expensive of the three for Rangers.

Domestically, McKenna and Souttar have emerged as the top young Scottish centre backs, and Rangers would be landing coups with either of them given major interest from English clubs, but they could fill the void left by Bates as young Scottish centre backs to grow and develop in the heart of the Gers defence.

Losing Bates for minimal compensation makes the move all the more difficult to swallow for Rangers, but now it’s up to Dave King and co to invest in a major replacement – and three of Scotland’s top young defenders must be on the shortlist.