Glasgow Rangers are reportedly facing the prospect of losing another promising young talent from Ibrox, amid hefty interest in teenage sensation, Jack Wylie.
What’s the word?
According to The Athletic, the 15-year-old is believed to have caught the attention of a number of clubs, with Michael Beale facing the real possibility of seeing one of the club’s best young talents leave.
Indeed, the likes of Newcastle United, Manchester United and Arsenal all are believed to be interested in his signature.
While the Ibrox outfit are said to be keen to tie down the promising defender in the near future, there are no doubt fears of seeing the young Scotsman poached by clubs south of the border, following a growing trend of players heading for England of late.
As the report outlines, the Old Firm giants only recently saw striker Ross Wilson snapped up by Aston Villa, while both Billy Gilmour and Adedire Mebude sealed moves to Chelsea and Manchester City, respectively, in the recent past.
Thankfully as far as the Light Blues are concerned, an exit for Wyle is not imminent, with any interested party not able to make a move until he turns 16 in August.
Gilmour repeat
Even despite that potential respite, there will be concern for Gers sporting director Ross Wilson that the club could lose the highly-coveted youth star later down the line, with it no doubt set to be a notable blow if they are to lose the “wonderkid”, as described by journalist Fabrizio Romano.
The impressive full-back – who can also feature at centre-back – is believed to be making great strides in the club’s youth set-up at present, with the report above revealing that he has already made the step up to life at U18 level in recent weeks.
The fear among Wilson and co will be to see a repeat of the exit of the aforementioned Gilmour, with the current Scotland star having left Glasgow in order to seal a move to Stamford Bridge for an initial fee of around £500k back in 2017.
Although that was a rather sizeable sum for a player who was just 15 at the time of his departure, the playmaker has since gone on to leave the Scottish Premiership side rueing their inability to keep hold of him.
While the 21-year-old is enduring a difficult stint at current side Brighton and Hove Albion since making the £9m switch from the Blues over the summer – with just five outings to his name this season – the midfield maestro has showcased his quality in previous years for both club and country.
Previously lauded as looking like a “world-class” player by the typically hard-to-please Roy Keane following his emergence onto the scene in west London, the 16-cap sensation has also sparkled at international level, having starred at last year’s European Championship.
That tournament saw the Aberdeen-born ace notably receive the Man of the Match award in the group stage draw with England, having subsequently been lauded for his “fantastic” performance by serial-winning coach Jose Mourinho.
Such praise is a marker of just how highly-regarded Gilmour is in the game, despite his recent struggles at the Amex, with it a potential source of frustration for Rangers that he slipped from their grasp, having even been linked with a possible reunion earlier this year as a marker of their desire to bring him back to Scotland.
The aforementioned Wilson – who joined the club after Gilmour’s exit – could well look to avoid a repeat of that scenario by offering terms to Wylie as soon as possible, in order to ward off the rampant Premier League interest.