Scotland fell to a disastrous 3-1 defeat to Iceland in a Hampden friendly match this past week, with Rangers’ John Souttar grabbing the Scots’ solitary goal.
The result may have been poor, mainly down to the selection choices of Steve Clarke, a man well past his sell-by date in his current role, but one positive in the squad was the inclusion of former Motherwell right-back Max Johnston.
The son of former Rangers and Hearts winger Allan Johnston, Max broke through at Fir Park in the 2022/23 season before being snapped up by Austrian Bundesliga side Sturm Graz, where he has become a first-team regular and earned his place within international squads.
Now linked with moves to the English Premier League, with newly promoted Sunderland among the interested clubs, the lure of a move down south may put him beyond the reach of Ibrox, despite the Austrian side’s asking price for the 22-year-old reportedly being only £3 million.
Should Rangers fail to act this summer, Johnston will move to England, and due to the inflation of the English market, become unobtainable for the foreseeable future; at least until past his peak years. This is our last chance to secure a young, up-and-coming Scottish star.
Realistically, this is a move that should have been made when he left North Lanarkshire. The potential was clear for all to see, and it is a crime that the club persisted with James Tavernier as the only option in that position, despite his age and without any future-proof plan.
Now here we are. Tavernier has declined to a point where he surely cannot continue as the number one right-back at Ibrox. In the last year of his contract and expected to stay on as captain, this is surely a sentimental decision. New Head Coach Russell Martin must see the need for a dynamic change and an injection of youth in that position.
With Dujon Sterling’s injury issues and the departure of Adam Devine, there is a clear need for another right-back to compete, and surely displace, the 55-winning skipper. Johnston would be perfect for that role, but is it too late with England calling?
The wages that even a newly promoted English side can offer will dwarf our own, simply due to the financial muscle of the Premier League. But could the allure of UEFA Champions League football and a title challenge be enough to persuade Johnston to return to Scotland?
It’s a decent sales pitch, but one we should have made two years ago. Johnston is another in a trend of young Scottish talent ignored by Rangers, who then move on and burst onto the scene elsewhere.
Josh Doig, Lewis Ferguson and Bobby Wales are just a few examples of young talent within the Scottish pyramid who have left and gone on to improve at new clubs.
Alongside them are youngsters like Callan McKenna, Ryan One and Kerr Smith, who left Scotland after breaking through to join youth ranks down south, moves that proper scouting at Ibrox could have prevented had they been identified and signed earlier.
With Lennon Miller now out of our price range after we declined to make the obvious move last year, we cannot let this trend continue under the new structure. We need to get the best-in-class young Scottish talent with SPFL experience through the doors at Ibrox. They may not be regulars right away, but we must present them with that opportunity.
Connor Barron and Lyall Cameron are positive signs of change in this department, but will it prove too little, too late for Johnston? We allowed him to leave Scotland in 2023, and we may no longer be able to entice a return as we once could.
Kilmarnock’s David Watson, alongside Hearts duo James Wilson and Adam Forrester, should be on Rangers’ radar, and we should be making these moves now, before they get away from us.
Not only for these aspects but they also help with European squad registrations, and having had players unavailable in recent years due to a lack of home grown talent, both by club and by nation, this is an issue we also must address.
We need a core of young, hungry Scottish players to build around. Celtic did this in 2016 when Rodgers first arrived, with the likes of Callum McGregor, James Forrest and Kieran Tierney, and unfortunately, it worked for them.
Now Celtic have the older squad, and we can take advantage of youth in this nation as they once did, and use it to push us into our own era of success, with young lads who understand what it takes, and importantly what it means.