Glasgow Rangers manager Steven Gerrard is set to loan out midfielder Jamie Barjonas next season, according to The Daily Record – but it is my assertion that the youngster can still make it big at Ibrox.
Although the Gers boss admires his talented rising star, the one thing he lacks is his experience of playing at a much higher level.
As such it makes sense for Rangers to loan Barjonas to a quality club that would offer him more first-team football than he’d get in Glasgow.
Whilst Barjonas is an exciting talented reserve, it’s too early into his professional career for him to step right into Gerrard’s starting XI.
Rangers already have a partnership with Californian side Orange County SC to exchange players if it suits all parties.
Gary Holt at Livingston or Ian McCall of Ayr United are ideal managers to encourage and hone Barjonas’ midfield skills in readiness for the Gers first team.
Barjonas can score goals; he did it again by netting Rangers’ final goal in the 2-0 win against Nice in the Veolia Trophy in France.
The midfielder’s Rangers contract is due to conclude in 12 months’ time, meaning his future is unclear.
However, it appears that the Gers hierarchy think highly of him.
Peter Lovenkrands was full of praise for Barjonas in a recent interview.
“Jamie has fantastic abilities, his passing is second to none. He has also added hard work into his game,” the Daily Record report him as saying.
“He is physically ready to step up so he has got a big chance.
“It’s important he puts himself in front of the manager and does the best he can.
“It sounds as if he has done that in Lyon and scoring the goal will only help his confidence.
“I had plenty of long chats with Jamie and told him I wanted him to shoot more from outside the box because he has a fantastic strike on him.
“He hits the ball really well, hard and precise, and over a short period he began scoring more and more from distance.
“Adding stuff like that to your game as a forward playing midfielder is key.
“So he has passing ability and a fantastic shot and put those together he can potentially cause a lot of damage.”
As such, even if Barjonas does end up elsewhere for the 2020-21 season, it does not mean the end of the road at Rangers for the talented midfielder.
