The list of talented youngsters whose careers collapsed after an ill-fated move should act as a warning.
Rangers manager Mark Warburton has confirmed that he is keen to give some of the club’s young talent the opportunity to prove themselves this season, according to the Evening Times, but could that be enough to convince 15-year-old wonderkid Billy Gilmour to resist the overtures of Champions League-chasing giants?
The Gers’ first season back in the Scottish Premiership is expected to herald in a new era at Ibrox despite the high-profile additions of short-term solutions such as Niko Kranjcar and Joey Barton in the summer.
Beyond the big names, Warburton has carefully mapped out the future, bringing in fresh British talent a la Matt Crooks, Josh Windass (below), Joe Dodo and Jordan Rossiter while embarking on a renewed transfer policy aimed at giving a second chance to out-of-contract, English-based youngsters.
Though that’s not to say he’s ignoring the talent within the club’s famously prosperous youth ranks. 17-year-old midfielder Liam Burt made his third appearance of the season against Hearts on Saturday and Warburton insists that he has one eye on the progress of Graeme Murty’s Auchenhowie youngsters.
“We all want young players, and fans will respond to home-grown talent. We want to give them the best chance, and our job as a club is to give them an opportunity. The key thing is though, they have to be good enough,” Warburton told Rangers TV, cited by the Evening Times.
“It’s not a pat on the back gesture, they have to be good enough, and the role of an Academy at any club is to produce players armed with the attributes to impact at first-team level.
“If that doesn’t happen, then why do we have an Academy?”
One player heavily tipped to make the transition from youth ranks to the first-team set up is 15-year-old Gilmour, a dazzlingly talented playmaker seemingly on the wishlist of every big club across the continent.
According to The Sun, Chelsea, Barcelona, Bayern Munich all watched the teen sensation at the Victory Shield earlier in the season though Gilmour won’t need reminding of the countless precocious talents who made the move too early and found themselves washed up and clubless in their 20s.
Chelsea’s list of academy graduates essentially starts and stops at John Terry while Bayern post-Pep are so determined to win everything available that young players aren’t exactly given the time and space to shine.
Even Barcelona, with their infamous La Masia academy, have somewhat barricaded the route to the first-team, with Sandro Ramirez, Munir El Haddadi (below), Sergi Samper and Alex Grimaldo all forced to look elsewhere for opportunities.
It almost goes without saying that Gilmour would be best placed remaining at Rangers.
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