Glasgow Rangers need to improve the pipeline from the academy to the first-team because it has not produced enough in the way of regular starters in recent years.
So far this season, no academy graduate has played more than 35 minutes of football for the Light Blues in the Scottish Premiership under Russell Martin, per WhoScored.
Last season, Ross McCausland was the only academy graduate who started more than one league match for the club, starting four times in total before his summer exit on loan.
Why Rangers need to improve their academy pipeline
Whether it comes down to academy recruitment, the facilities at the academy, the first-team coaching staff and their willingness to bring through academy talent, something needs to be done.
Findlay Curtis, who turns 19 next month, has scored three goals in 228 minutes of action in all competitions this season, per Transfermarkt, yet he has only played 35 minutes in the league.
Given that Rangers have scored one goal in their last three Premiership matches combined, Curtis’ lack of involvement does not feel like a wise use, or lack of use, of talent.
Bringing through academy talent is important for multiple reasons, because it can save the club millions on new signings by creating players for the first-team, and it shows young players that this is the place to be if you want to progress your career.
The lack of examples in recent years of players making the step from academy football to first-team regular at Rangers may cause players to rethink whether they want to be at Ibrox, which may be part of the reason why the Gers lost their own version of Bukayo Saka.
Rangers must rue losing their own Bukayo Saka
19-year-old whiz Archie Stevens left the Light Blues this summer upon the expiry of his contract, after the club failed to agree new terms with the winger.
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The teenage talent has since signed for Premier League giants and Champions League outfit Arsenal, though there is no mention of any potential compensation for Rangers, which means that they may have lost him for £0.
Stevens, who signed from Wimbledon in 2022, made his first-team debut for Rangers against Queen of the South in the League Cup in August 2022, at the age of just 16.
Player
Age at debut
Derek Ferguson
16 years, 24 days
Bailey Rice
16 years, four months, and 14 days
Tom Walsh
16 years, four months, and 27 days
Paul Nsio
16 years, five months, and 15 days
Zak Lovelace
16 years, seven months, and 7 days
Alfie Conn
16 years, seven months, and 8 days
Archie Stevens
16 years, six months, and 19 days
The English forward became one of the youngest players in the club’s history when he made that appearance in the cup, but he left this summer with that being his only outing in the first-team.
Now, he has been compared to Arsenal star Bukayo Saka upon his arrival at The Emirates. The Sun are said to have compared the two in because of their similar style of play, as both are wingers who like to drive at defenders and excite supporters.
Dunfermline boss Michael Tidser described him as a player who likes to “get bums off seats”, which is what he did for the B team at the start of last season with one goal and two assists in four Challenge Cup matches, per Transfermarkt.
Whilst it remains unclear as to why the winger decided to move on from Ibrox, the lack of a clear pathway to the first-team may have been a contributing factor.
Now, the Gers are left to rue losing a player who is now at one of the biggest clubs in the world at the age of 19, with a chance to progress and become the next Saka or Noni Madueke with the Gunners in the biggest competitions in the world, and they may have lost him for nothing.