Rangers outcast could be handed major Ibrox lifeline as big update emerges - opinion

Rangers defender Jack Simpson could be set for a bigger role in the team next season following comments made by Filip Helander.

25-year-old Simpson has found first-team football incredibly hard to come by so far in his career.

He has only made 48 appearances across spells at his former club Bournemouth as well as at Rangers, which hasn’t been helped by the number of players that he has to compete with for a place in the starting XI.

However, comments made by Helander might have just given a hint into his own future, which could in turn have an impact on Simpson’s as well.

Speaking to Swedish outlet Fotbollskanalen (via Football Scotland), Helander claimed that the club are yet to hold talks over a renewal of his contract, which is currently set to expire in the summer of 2023, whilst also dropping a not-so-subtle hint about where he would like to play in the future, saying: “No, we have not talked so far. But there is more than a year left.

“I think that Malmo is a little further in the future. It’s the way I think at the moment, but you never know.”

Whilst it isn’t as if Helander is out of contract and on course to leave the club this summer, this will be one of the last opportunities to sell him rather than letting him go for free, so there is the chance that the club might look to cash in on the Swede and move him along rather than risk losing the defender for nothing.

And if the club do decide to do that, it could provide the perfect opportunity for Simpson to take on a bigger role in the side. The club are already on course to lose two central defenders in the form of Connor Goldson and Leon Balogun, and if Helander were to leave on top of that, they would be down to just three central defenders.

So this could be a