Borna Barisic Rangers future assessed after contract update

After a hugely disappointing season, Michael Beale has been tasked with overseeing a major rebuild as his influence grows at the club. 

Allan McGregor, Scott Arfield, Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos and Filip Helander were integral to Rangers title winning success under Steven Gerrard, while they all - minus Helander - made major contributions on the run to Seville.

An overhaul is required and as it stands, only James Tavernier and Connor Goldson will be guaranteed starters from the squad that won 55 and reached the Europa League final. 

But what about another stalwart from those two achievements? 

Barisic has been a good servant across his five years at Rangers but there’s a strong chance that his time in Glasgow will end this summer. 

The Croatian international only has a year left on his contract and a decision will need to be made this summer. 

There’s been serious interest in Barisic during previous transfer windows but his value has now decreased due to his contract status and his age. 

Now 30, Barisic will be targeting the last big contract of his career and he recently suggested that offer could arrive from Rangers. 

Speaking last week, he said: "I have a contract with Rangers for one more year. I have started negotiations with the club.

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"I don't want to say anything because you never know in football. However, I have a great relationship with everyone at the club and we will find the best solution. There's always speculation about my future, it reaches me - but little of it is true.” 

Barisic’s comments, while vague, leave the door open to a possible extension but it’s understood that talks were exploratory regarding his future rather than a deal being offered. 

Beale also recently provided an update on the Croatian and John Lundstram - also out of contact next summer - and admitted that talks would take place during pre-season.

Beale in May: “With John and Borna, they’ll go away over the summer, weigh everything up, then we’ll have a chat. I’ve spoken to both and they know what I think and where I’m going with it so they’re up to speed.

“For senior players, they want to see where we’re going and I want to see they’re performing at a level I think we can go on a journey.

“They’ve both, in the main, performed well.

“They’ll want to see if someone is signed in their position and everything that goes around it.

“The more pressing concern was the boys out of contract and the immediate recruitment. Those talks will be towards the back end of the summer.”

Barisic’s future remains open but he won’t be satisfied being second-choice at left-back to Ridvan Yilmaz. 

The Turkish international was afforded the chance to impress across the last few weeks of the season and he showed promise - although the depressurised nature of the post-split fixtures must be noted. 

Rangers invested around £5 million to sign Yilmaz from Besiktas last summer and they will be looking to develop him to receive a return on their investment on the 22-year-old. 

The jury remains out over whether Beale views Yilmaz as the long-term solution at left-back but he will be handed the chance to impress next season after an injury disrupted campaign, unless a significant offer is received - which is unlikely at present. 

It was undoubtedly the correct decision for Beale to cast his eye over Yilmaz towards the end of the season and it was made easier by a slight injury to Barisic. 

After a hugely impressive first few seasons at Ibrox, the Croatian has received a myriad of criticism across the last 18 months with his defending ability often highlighted. 

Barisic’s mentality has also come under fire and there’s been a number of hugely concerning displays against Celtic - with the 3-0 defeat at Parkhead a harrowing evening, when he was hooked at half-time. 

Beale’s arrival after Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s tenure, however, sparked an upturn in Barisic’s performances this season and he put up some impressive assist numbers. 

A return of 13 from 46 appearances is tribute to his crossing ability, which remains an asset when Beale affords his full-backs more attacking licence - Tavernier registered ten in 55 appearances. 

While Yilmaz needs to improve his end product and lacks the crossing ability of Barisic, he offers better link-up play with teammates and he can also attack infield. 

Using statistics to measure the performance of defenders provides less insight than more advanced positions but comparing their radars indicate that Yilmaz is the more aggressive defender - pressures and interceptions - and progresses the ball more from dribbles. 

But it’s a small sample size for Yilmaz and the majority of his appearances came when there was nothing to play for - almost half of his minutes came in the split. 

The Turk also benefits from recency bias and being a new signing but he appears to be ahead of Barisic in the pecking order, while Dujon Sterling can also play at left-back, and that could bring down the curtain on the Crotian’s time at Rangers.