OPINION
Rangers’ director of football Mark Allen must rush to put together a tempting new contract offer for David Bates after Ally McCoist praised the defender.
Club legend McCoist opted to compliment the defender for his recent display against Celtic and suggested that Bates should be pushing to be a part of Alex McLeish’s Scotland plans after breaking into the Gers’ first-team this season.
“McCrorie has been outstanding from Rangers’ point of view and Bates was excellent when he came on at Celtic Park, then he got the injury in the game at Ibrox,” said the Gers legend, as quoted by the Scottish Sun.
“Nowadays Rangers are a completely different proposition to go to. They’re back in an arena where young home-grown talent will look at the club and say ‘I’ll go there and get a chance’, and if they do well, every kid wants to play for their country.
“Those games (friendlies v Peru and Mexico) are 100 per cent an opportunity for players.”
McCoist was right to praise Bates for his performance against the Hoops, but in fairness the 21-year-old centre-back has been just as impressive in his other 16 outings this season.
It’s shame that the starlet is now stuck on the sidelines for the Gers through injury as his displays have helped them climb the Scottish Premier League to sit second.
However Allen knows that he faces a battle to keep Bates at Ibrox beyond the end of this season, as according to the Scottish Sun, contract talks with the defender have stalled.
This means that if the situation doesn’t change, the talented centre-back will be able to depart the club on a free transfer in the summer, as that is when his current deal expires.
Bates has more than earned a noteworthy new contract after showing that he’s capable of being a first-regular during this campaign, and that’s before you take his vast potential into account.
Therefore with McCoist drawing attention to Bates’ immense ability, Allen should be drawing up a tempting new contract in order to keep the defender at the club.
As there’s no doubt several teams that will be ready to scoop him up for free in the summer.