Rangers star could have been their next Ferguson but he left for nothing

Glasgow Rangers made a host of changes to their playing squad in the recent summer transfer window to freshen up the group and lower the average age.

The Light Blues allowed the likes of Ryan Jack, Kemar Roofe, Borna Barisic, John Lundstram, and Jon McLaughlin to depart at the end of their contracts.

They also sold Connor Goldson, Scott Wright, Sam Lammers, and Todd Cantwell, whilst allowing Ben Davies to join Birmingham City on loan for the season.

These moves allowed Philippe Clement and Nils Koppen to dip into the market to bring in reinforcements, with the likes of Connor Barron, Jefte, Vaclav Cerny, Hamza Igamane, and Clinton Nsiala, among others, coming through the door at Ibrox.

Another way to freshen up the squad, however, is to introduce young players from the academy into the first-team, as Clement did with Ross McCausland last term.

Rangers have not always made the best decisions when it has come to integrating, or not integrating, talented players from their youth set-up, as they have allowed a few great prospects to slip through the net.

One such player was central midfielder Kenny McLean, who could have been the club’s next Barry Ferguson if they had given him a chance in the senior side.

Barry Ferguson’s Rangers career

The Scotland international started out his career in the academy at Rangers and made his breakthrough at first-team level with seven appearances in all competitions during the 1996/97 campaign.

He did not secure a regular place in the team for the Scottish giants until the 1998/99 season, however, with two goals in 39 games in all competitions. Ferguson also made his Scotland debut that term.

That year set him up to be a consistent performer in the middle of the park for the Gers over the coming years, as he racked up 12 trophies – including five league titles – during his first spell at the club.

As you can see in the table above, Ferguson did not offer a regular threat in front of goal until the 2002/03 campaign, when he fired in a staggering 16 goals from midfield.

His form that term attracted attention from Premier League side Blackburn Rovers, who swooped in to sign him for a reported fee of £8.78m. That – per Totally Money’s algorithm – would be worth a whopping £36.88m in today’s money, if you account for inflation of transfer fees in football since that transfer was completed.

Ferguson later returned to Ibrox in January 2005 and spent another four-and-a-half years with the Scottish giants, ending his spell at Ibrox with 57 goals and 29 assists in 407 outings in all competitions.

Kenny McLean’s Rangers release

The young central midfielder joined the club from Aberdeen’s academy in the summer of 2006 to join the U17 set-up in Glasgow, after seemingly catching their attention with the Dons.

He spent two seasons at Ibrox, both of which were spent with the U17s, before being released by the Light Blues in the summer of 2008, which led to a move to St Mirren’s youth team.

From there, McLean made his breakthrough at senior level with St Mirren in the 2010/11 campaign, two years on from his exit from Rangers, and went on to score 24 goals in 152 matches in all competitions for the Scottish Premiership outfit.

It was during his time with the Buddies that he was compared to Barry Ferguson, having already moved on from Ibrox by that point, as teammate Gary Teale made the comparison.

In 2011, when McLean was 19, Teale told the Glasgow Times: “From the first time I came across Kenny on the training pitch I knew he had real talent. Immediately I thought the way he carried himself, quite upright and with his chest out, reminded me of Barry Ferguson.

“Obviously Kenny is just starting out and this is only his second season in the SPL, but he is very assured and composed and again that maturity on the park at an early age was a hallmark of Barry’s.”

This shows that the Scottish maestro was similar in style to the former Gers star, with both central midfielders offering a composed and mature presence in the middle of the park at a young age in the Premiership.

In terms of quality, McLean’s career so far suggests that he also could have been like Ferguson, who was capped 45 times by Scotland, as he has developed into a Scotland international who has also played plenty of times in the Premier League.

Kenny McLean’s career progress

The left-footed star spent just over three years, from February 2015 to May 2018, with Aberdeen and racked up 25 goals and 18 assists in 158 matches in all competitions.

McLean then made the move down south to England, as Ferguson did during his career, to sign for Norwich City in 2018, who were managed by German head coach Daniel Farke.

The ex-Gers academy prospect produced three goals and six assists in 20 Championship matches in his first season with the Canaries, as they secured promotion to the Premier League.

McLean then scored one goal in 37 appearances in the top-flight as Norwich were relegated, before a return of two goals and six assists in 38 games to win the Championship title for a second time.

It was not second time lucky for the midfield star in the Premier League, though, as they were relegated for a second time, and he produced one goal in 31 outings.

He has been a regular for the Yellows in the middle of the park at Championship level since their latest relegation in 2022 and has enjoyed a strong start to the current campaign under Johannes Hoff Thorup.

As you can see in the table above, McLean has already made nine appearances in the league for Norwich this term and has contributed with three assists, whilst also making 4.5 tackles and interceptions per game.

Meanwhile, no current Rangers player has managed more than two assists or more than 4.4 tackles and interceptions per match in the Premiership this season, which speaks to the quality McLean – now 32 – still possesses.

The Light Blues had a howler by releasing the midfielder in 2008 as they missed out on the chance to integrate him into their first-team to unearth their new Barry Ferguson, as he has gone on to earn 41 caps for Scotland and play in the Premier League.