Leon King suffers Rangers injury hammerblow as defender to miss 'significant period of time' after ankle knock

Rangers defender Leon King will be out for significant period of time" after picking up an ankle injury during pre-season.

The 19-year old is currently in Germany for the club's training camp ahead of the new Scottish Premiership campaign and Champions League playoff clashes. The young centre-back would have been looking to make his mark at Ibrox under Michale Beale next term but the Light Blues have revealed he suffered a contact injury on Monday and is now facing a long spell on the sidelines.

King featured 23 times for side last season - including featuring in all six of their Champions League group stage matches. The club tweeted: "Rangers FC can confirm defender Leon King suffered a contact injury to his ankle at the club’s pre-season training camp in Germany on Monday which will rule him out for a significant period of time. Leon is being looked after by the club’s medical staff and a further update will follow in due course. Everyone at the club wishes Leon a speedy recovery."

The knock could see Beale look to dip into the transfer market. Former defender Leon Balogun has been linked with a return to Govan as a free agent this summer.

After the devestating injury blow, the 19-year-old has vowed to come back stronger. Taking to Twitter, King said: "Gutted. Not what anyone wants in pre season, but I’ll be back stronger soon. Thanks for the messages everyone, take care."

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