Former Rangers ace Barry Ferguson has slammed the club after young defender David Bates agreed a deal to join Hamburg on a four-year contract this summer.
The 21-year-old has signed a pre-contract agreement with the Bundesliga club, and will join them when his Rangers contract runs out at the end of the season.
Bates had become a regular at centre-back this season under Graeme Murty, but his progress was brought to a halt by an ankle injury that has sidelined him for several weeks.
In a column for the Daily Record, Ferguson said: “There were two things that struck me yesterday when I heard David Bates had signed for Hamburg. The first was a sense of shock. Quickly followed by a feeling of disappointment. Even now I’m struggling to get my head around this one as I can’t for the life of me understand why Rangers have allowed this boy to slip through the net. I understand money was a problem but something could have been sorted out.
“A lot of supporters will feel angry about it because Bates looked as if he was going to have a real chance of making the grade at Ibrox. He’s only a young boy but as far as I’m concerned he’s already a better central defender than Bruno Alves and Russell Martin so it’s beyond belief he didn’t get tied down on a new contract to prevent this happening.
“He made such an impression on me for his natural defensive qualities. He’s not the finished article by a long shot in terms of technical ability but there was plenty there for Rangers to work with. What he does have though is an old-school approach to defending in the way he clears his lines. He could have been a real asset for Rangers in the years ahead but now it’s Hamburg who get the chance to make a player of him.”
Bates joined Rangers in January 2017 from Raith Rovers, and went on to make 25 first-team appearances for the club over the year-and-a-half since then.
OPINION
Rangers have made a bad error in letting Bates go, and their recruitment department will have their work cut out to put a decent defence together this summer. Bruno Alves is set to leave the club and Russell Martin has hardly inspired confidence with his performances so far. Bates was a real prospect and someone you felt the club could build a defence around, but they have let that opportunity slip. Obviously there were disparities in the two parties’ valuations in terms of wages, but as Ferguson said, you would have thought they could work something out. Anyhow, it will be interesting to see how Bates’ development progresses at Hamburg, who look set for relegation to Bundesliga 2.