Rangers were reportedly snubbed by Marcus McGuane in January.
Rangers may have enjoyed a productive January transfer window, but there were some targets they couldn’t quite lure to Ibrox.
The Gers managed to bring in Russell Martin, Sean Goss, Greg Docherty, Jamie Murphy and Jason Cummings in January, boosting Graeme Murty’s squad and sparking superb results.
However, Rangers couldn’t land Kilmarnock’s Jordan Jones, and The Mirror claimed that Arsenal talent Marcus McGuane snubbed a move to Ibrox in order to head to Barcelona.
That may seem like an easy choice for many, given the Catalan giants’ standing in world football, but McGuane headed to Barcelona B rather than the first team, meaning he faced a fight to rub shoulders with the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
The 19-year-old has played four times for Barcelona B since his move in January, and tonight he was handed a debut for Ernesto Valverde’s first team.
Barcelona took on local rivals Espanyol in the Supercopa de Catalunya tonight, playing out a 0-0 draw before winning on penalties – and McGuane was handed an appearance, coming on as a 77th minute substitute for Aleix Vidal.
McGuane will now head back to Barcelona B, but the fact that he came on as a substitute tonight suggests that he has already caught the eye of Barca decision makers, and looks set for a bright future.
Rangers may be left wondering what might have been had they been able to land McGuane, but they would be wise to keep him on their radar in case his Barcelona dream doesn’t quite work out.
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