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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Christopher Jack

Rangers defender set for Ibrox exit amid English interest

Leon King is set to leave Rangers before the close of the transfer window as English clubs eye up a loan move for the Ibrox defender.

King has yet to make an appearance for Michael Beale’s side this season and is set to find his chances of first team football limited in the coming months.

Rangers are now poised to sanction a switch that will take him south of the border and a move to the Championship or League One is on the cards.

King became an integral part of the Ibrox defence during the first half of last season as Giovanni van Bronckhorst was forced to rely on the Scotland youth international for domestic and European fixtures.

King notched up more match minutes than any other teenager in the Champions League but it proved to be a difficult experience as Rangers finished bottom of their section and lost all six of their matches with Liverpool, Napoli and Ajax.

The arrival of Michael Beale saw King’s opportunities to play diminish as the Englishman put his faith in the partnership between Connor Goldson and Ben Davies for the second half of the season and he finished with 24 appearances to his credit.

King has seen Goldson and John Souttar establish themselves as the first choice pairing in the opening weeks of the campaign and is now behind the returning Leon Balogun as well as Davies.

And Rangers are now keen to send him out on loan to ensure that his development continues as a handful of clubs monitor his situation before the close of business this week.

King is not the only member of Beale’s squad that is poised to leave in the coming days as Glen Kamara gets set to clinch a £5million deal with Leeds United.

Daniel Farke made his move to sign Kamara last week and Rangers are now in the closing stages of discussions with the Championship side after the midfielder agreed personal terms.

Those deals could prove to be the last ones that Beale completes this summer after the arrival of nine players saw him transform his Ibrox ranks earlier in the window.

Rangers remain open to doing business if the right move materialises and are ready to react during the final stages of the window but the switches for King and Kamara could mark the end of their activity during a productive window.

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