James Tavernier officially confirmed on Wednesday that he will be leaving Glasgow Rangers when his contract expires at the end of the current campaign.
The veteran defender’s deal is due to expire at the end of June and the full-back has put out a statement to say that he has made the decision not to extend.
Whilst it is unclear if there was an offer on the table from the Scottish giants, Tavernier will not be at Ibrox when the 2026/27 campaign gets underway.
After 144 goals and 148 assists in 562 appearances in all competitions for the Light Blues, it is fair to say that the Englishman will move on from the club as a bona fide legend.
Despite his exceptional statistics as a right-back and the possibility of a second Scottish Premiership title win this year, it feels like the right time for a parting of ways.
Why it is the right time for James Tavernier to leave Rangers
It is the right decision for Tavernier to move on from Ibrox because his powers are waning and he is not as influential or as important as he was in the 2024/25 campaign.
|
Tavernier (Premiership) |
24/25 |
25/26 |
|---|---|---|
|
Appearances |
33 |
31 |
|
Starts |
30 |
23 |
|
Non-penalty goals |
3 |
4 |
|
Key passes per game |
2.3 |
2.1 |
|
Assists |
8 |
4 |
|
Possession lost per game |
21.0 |
18.0 |
The 34-year-old star is no longer a guaranteed starter for Rangers, having come off the bench eight times this season, and he has half as many assists as he managed last term.
Tavernier has still popped up with moments of quality, as eight non-penalty goal contributions from right-back is impressive, but he is not at the level that he once was.
Therefore, leaving before any further regression in his play potentially tarnishes his legacy at Ibrox seems like the right move for all parties, as it allows the captain to leave on a relative high, particularly if Rangers win the title this season.
Rangers already sold the perfect James Tavernier replacement
Danny Rohl and the recruitment team will already be looking at possible replacements for Tavernier, but the club sold the perfect heir to his throne just over four years ago.
In January 2022, when Giovanni van Bronckhorst was at the helm, Rangers sold academy graduate Nathan Patterson to Premier League side Everton.
The Scottish defender, whose Transfermarkt value was £2.6m at the time, came through the youth set up at Ibrox and made 27 senior appearances for the club before his move down south.
|
21/22 Premiership |
Patterson per 90 |
Rank vs RBs |
|---|---|---|
|
xA |
0.24 |
Top 8% |
|
Assists |
0.39 |
Top 1% |
|
Chances created |
1.17 |
Top 25% |
|
Big chances created |
0.39 |
Top 10% |
|
Successful crosses |
1.17 |
Top 18% |
|
Successful crosses |
2.34 |
Top 1% |
Patterson only started two of his six appearances in the first half of the 2021/22 Premiership campaign, but he ranked incredibly highly per 90 among right-backs in the division as an attacking force in those minutes.
It was perhaps his exceptional underlying data that convinced Everton to snap him up from the Gers, despite the fact that Tavernier was ahead of him in the pecking order at Ibrox.
Since making the move to the Toffees, Patterson has made 66 appearances in all competitions and missed 44 games through injury, which has disrupted his development at the club.
Despite not breaking through as a regular starter in the English top-flight, the Scotland international’s value has still soared to £8.7m on Transfermarkt, which is a 234% increase on the £2.6m that he was valued at in January 2022.
Patterson, who scored two goals for Rangers, has not hit the heights that he may have wanted after leaving the Gers, but it is hard to begrude a player for wanting to go and test themselves in the Premier League.
Had he stayed with the Light Blues, though, the 24-year-old star could have developed into the perfect replacement for Tavernier, based on his exceptional creative output in the first half of the 2021/22 Premiership season.
Given the captain’s attacking output from right-back, replacing him with a homegrown star who could create chances on a regular basis would have been ideal for the Ibrox giants.
Unfortunately, the timings did not quite work out for Patterson after his emergence in the first-team with Rangers, but you never know what could happen in the future and there may still be scope for him to be the first-choice at right-back at Ibrox sometime down the line.
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