Emiliano Marcondes can earn statement Rangers win Nick Montgomery needs but it could come at a cost - Tam McManus

Emiliano Marcondes could hold the key to Hibs unlocking a first win over Rangers in 10 meetings on Saturday. But should he produce the goods on the big stage at Ibrox he’ll also be opening the door to bigger and better offers arriving in the summer.

That’s a problem for later though. Nick Montgomery gave hope to Hibees this week that a permanent deal for the Danish playmaker, who is a free agent in a couple of months, isn’t a complete non-starter. That’s great. Maybe he really is enjoying his football that much in Leith that he would be willing to take a wage cut to stick around.

It’s all in the player’s control. One thing is for sure though, if it’s money that motivates Marcondes then he won’t be at Hibs beyond May. Right now he will be on Premier League wages at Bournemouth which Hibs can’t afford - Bill Foley dosh or not. Does he think he has one more big move? That’s his prerogative. What my old club can offer is regular football and hopefully, although there’s a lot of work to be done, a shot at Europe.

Marcondes is 29 and it could be that playing regularly is the main thing for him at this stage of his career. While we might call him a Premier League player the truth is he's only played eight minutes of Premier League football, and that in a 9-0 drubbing to Liverpool.

In total he’s featured 24 times for Bournemouth and 23 of those were in the Championship or cups. In fact he’s played less than 50 games in the last four seasons and 11 of those were in the last couple of months in Leith. So Hibs’ best hope is that he’s loving playing regularly.

Listen, I said last week I’d be astonished if the Cherries loan star was still at Easter Road next season. It’s up to Hibs to make the absolute most of him when he’s here