Rangers defender Jack Simpson could be set for a bigger role in the team next season following comments made by Filip Helander.
25-year-old Simpson has found first-team football incredibly hard to come by so far in his career.
He has only made 48 appearances across spells at his former club Bournemouth as well as at Rangers, which hasn’t been helped by the number of players that he has to compete with for a place in the starting XI.
However, comments made by Helander might have just given a hint into his own future, which could in turn have an impact on Simpson’s as well.
What has Helander said?
Speaking to Swedish outlet Fotbollskanalen (via Football Scotland), Helander claimed that the club are yet to hold talks over a renewal of his contract, which is currently set to expire in the summer of 2023, whilst also dropping a not-so-subtle hint about where he would like to play in the future, saying: “No, we have not talked so far. But there is more than a year left.
“I think that Malmo is a little further in the future. It’s the way I think at the moment, but you never know.”
Whilst it isn’t as if Helander is out of contract and on course to leave the club this summer, this will be one of the last opportunities to sell him rather than letting him go for free, so there is the chance that the club might look to cash in on the Swede and move him along rather than risk losing the defender for nothing.
What’s the impact on Simpson?
And if the club do decide to do that, it could provide the perfect opportunity for Simpson to take on a bigger role in the side. The club are already on course to lose two central defenders in the form of Connor Goldson and Leon Balogun, and if Helander were to leave on top of that, they would be down to just three central defenders.
So this could be a great opportunity for Simpson to finally step out of the shadows after a few years of development and finally get to become a first-teamer after years of sitting on the sidelines at Ibrox.
TIF Verdict…
Will Simpson ever become a regular for Rangers?
Yes
No
If Simpson doesn’t get an opportunity soon, you do wonder when that opportunity is going to come at all for him. The club showed a lot of faith in him by signing him to a long-term deal when he first joined the club, but so far it hasn’t exactly been demonstrated well.
And even if the club does decide to move on from Helander this summer as it seems they might do given his contract situation, it might well be the case that he’ll need to start looking elsewhere for opportunities, because they certainly don’t seem to be coming for him at the moment at Ibrox.
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