With the majority of transfer business completed by Glasgow Rangers, signing seven players, it is now time for Michael Beale to trim his squad and secure transfer fees for players who won't be part of his plans during the 2023/24 campaign.
Midfielder Glen Kamara appears set to leave Ibrox this summer, with Besiktas looking to secure his signature, while an update from the 4th Official seems to signal the end of both Antonio Colak and Fashion Sakala.
They tweeted: “Exclusive: Rangers are close to offloading Antonio Colak to Parma for £2.5m. Also, the club are in advanced negotiations with a Saudi club for Fashion Sakala. Fee set to somewhere around £4m.”
With 30 goals between them across the 2022/23 season, Beale will be losing a couple of players who offered a serious threat when they played last season, yet with the arrivals of Sam Lammers, Cyriel Dessers and Abdallah Sima, the 42-year-old believes he could offset any potential departure.
The Gers have also been linked with a move for Sunderland winger Jack Clarke according to Football League World and with Ryan Kent leaving following the expiration of his contract and now Sakala potentially departing, Beale will be short of players who can operate on the left wing.
This could make Clarke a worthwhile signing and will allow the manager to forget all about the Zambian.
Is Fashion Sakala leaving Rangers?
Judging by the update from the 4th Official, it certainly appears as though the 25-year-old could soon be ending his two-year spell in Glasgow by moving to Saudi Arabia, and considering the Light Blues paid nothing to sign him in 2021, his record has been decent enough.
The unorthodox forward, who is able to lead the line and operate on the wing, registered 39 goal contributions across 91 games for the Gers, and he actually enjoyed somewhat of a mini-revival when Beale arrived last November, going on to score 11 times and grab seven assists, becoming the key attacking danger under the Englishman.
It will be hard to turn down £4m for him though, and Clarke could certainly be a perfect successor. The winger scored 11 goals and notched 15 assists across all competitions for the Black Cats last term, while he also ranked highly across a range of attacking metrics in the squad.
With seven big chances created, 1.7 key passes per game and two successful dribbles per game for Sunderland in the Championship, this was good enough to rank him third, first and second in the squad respectively, clearly enjoying a positive influence for the team.
These are qualities Beale is looking out for and with Sakala creating seven big chances, making 1.5 key passes, and succeeding with 1.9 successful dribbles last term, it is evident that Clarke is more than capable of stepping up to the required level.
The £15k-per-week gem – lauded as “effortless” by former professional Noel Whelan during his spell at Leeds United – has a contract with Sunderland until 2026 and this means Beale will have to stump up a decent fee to land him.
With a few players sure to be raising funds for the club by departing Glasgow, this may not prove to be too much of an issue, and a move should be made sooner rather than later for the 22-year-old sensation.