With Champions League squad registration on the horizon, who can Rangers register as homegrown? Michael Beale’s squad needs to include 8 homegrown players, with a minimum 4 being club-trained. If these requirements can’t be met, the club loses registration slots.
So a maximum of 25 players can be registered but if Rangers only have 3 club trained and 3 other association trained players, only 23 players could be registered in total. The requirements don’t have to be met, they just can’t be exceeded and there’s the punishment of less spaces for being able to meet the requirements.
It’s also worth noting that players U21 don’t have to registered but they can to make sure the requirements are met.
Rangers lost a couple of homegrown players this season in Allan McGregor (club trained) and Scott Arfield (association trained). Scott Wright (association trained) also looks to be heading for the exit door.
Currently Rangers only have 7 players who count as homegrown. All of which will need to be registered to meet the UEFA requirements. 5 of those players are club trained with the remaining 2 being association trained. This article will breakdown the players by position and show the options Rangers need to include in the squad.
You can read the full registration rules here.
Goalkeepers
For starters, Jon McLaughlin doesn’t count as homegrown in any sense. He never played any football in Scotland till he joined Hearts in 2017. So the options here are Robby McCrorie and Kieran Wright. McCrorie ended the season as first choice but the signing of Jack Butland seems to have derailed his chances at being number 1.
Kieran Wright hasn’t played for Rangers so far but did sign a new deal this summer to keep him at the club till 2025.
There have been rumours that McCrorie wants to leave for first team football. Which, at his age, he shouldn’t be denied. However, if he does leave someone is going to have to be called up, or bought, to replace him.
At this point, both players will need to be in the squad to meet the 8 homegrown players quota and they also cover 2 of the 4 club trained player slots.
Defenders
In terms of the defence Rangers have John Souttar, Leon King and Adam Devine as homegrown options. Souttar is the only one who gets regular minutes and King is currently out injured. However with the lack of homegrown numbers, all three will need to be included.
If he stays fit, Souttar will be key to Rangers keeping teams out as he was excellent towards the end of last season. King has shown promise but was thrown in at the deep end last season during a tough spell for the club.
He definitely has a future Ibrox and it will be interesting to see how much he plays upon his return from injury. Adam Devine filled in at LB for Barisic after the WC last season but never got much game time after that. He’s a solid young defender but hasn’t particularly stood out in any appearances.
Souttar qualifies as association trained whereas King and Devine qualify as trained by the club. That will take the club trained number up to 4 and mean the quota has been hit and takes the association trained number to 5.
Midfielders
Rangers only options here are Alex Lowry and Ryan Jack, with Lowry being club trained and Jack being association trained. There have been rumours that the club may look to loan out Lowry to get him some first team action. This would mean that, currently, the club can’t meet the requirements and would lose one of the 25 registration slots.
As previously mentioned, because he’s U21 he doesn’t have to be registered, but for Rangers to meet the requirements, he would be.
Ryan Jack will play plenty of minutes this season and will definitely be registered anyway. That would take the numbers up to 7 and that’s all Rangers currently have available in the first team. There’s obviously the opportunity to beef up the squad with those U21 players that don’t need registered but the lack of homegrown quality is concerning.
Forwards
After Robbie Ure departing this summer, Rangers have no out and out strikers that are club trained and anywhere close to first team ready. Assuming Scott Wright departs he’s a loss as an association trained player, which means Rangers can’t meet the quota of 8 total homegrown registered players.
Conclusion
To recap, here’s the list of players around the first team that are homegrown;
Club Trained – Robby McCrorie
Kieran Wright
Leon King
Adam Devine
Alex Lowry
Association Trained – John Souttar
Ryan Jack
Bailey Rice doesn’t count as association or club trained yet. Due to his age and how long he’s been playing between Motherwell/Rangers.
That leaves a total of 7 players, although, as mentioned a few times, U21 players don’t require to be registered. That would just mean Rangers would lose slots from the 25 available.
This could mean that certain players miss out. Who do you think is the most likely to be excluded from the 25 man squad? The squad that gets registered could be an insight into who will move on this summer.
Scott Wright and Glen Kamara look set to depart while interest remains in Fashion Sakala. That still leave a few players who could miss out on their places which could cause unrest within the camp.
Do you think the lack of homegrown options is a concern? Do Rangers need to focus on bringing more homegrown players into the squad?
You can read about Rangers potential CL opponents here.