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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
Rangers’ prodigious winger Glenn Middleton is nearing the Ibrox exit door, as he looks to complete a loan to Dutch second-tier side NAC Breda.
What’s the story?
As reported by The Daily Record, Steven Gerrard has said that his winger is “very close” to joining Breda on a season-long loan deal.
He had originally been nearing a loan switch to Doncaster Rovers, but saw that deal fall through at the eleventh hour, per The Scottish Sun.
Having watched Jordan Jones, Sheyi Ojo, Greg Stewart and Jake Hastie all arrive at the club this summer, it is no surprise to see a loan exit for Middleton.
As well as the added competition for wide berths, the youngster hardly kicked a ball for the first team after the winter break last term, despite impressing in the first half of the season.
The potential switch will see him join the Eerste Divisie in Holland after Breda were relegated from the Eredivisie last season.
An exciting move
It’s becoming less and less of a surprise seeing British players make the move abroad, whether temporary or permanent, but it remains intriguing nonetheless.
Middleton is a very exciting prospect and deserves to be playing first-team football, having had a breakthrough season last year.
It had become something of a worry during this whirlwind summer at Ibrox that he might get left behind, and have to continue with the reserves. So it’s nice that he’s taken a risk and decided to learn a new culture rather than hope for limited chances at Ibrox or another loan move in Britain.
In choosing the Netherlands and NAC, Middleton will go to a club and country that knows how to develop a youngster. Breda have had a relationship with Manchester City in recent years, taking some of their youngsters on temporary spells, and this set-up could benefit the winger.
Going to a club who know how to deal with talented British teens should give Middleton an advantage that he wouldn’t get at most foreign sides.
Also, in the Dutch second tier, he’ll regularly face players of a similar age in an environment that champions development. AZ, PSV, Ajax and Utrecht all have their youth sides competing in the division alongside 16 other clubs made up of all ages and sizes.
This could be a great halfway house between the youth leagues he was so good in and the senior action that he will hope to rejoin at Rangers once he returns.
It could be a really interesting and profitable move for the youngster as he looks to establish himself as a viable first-team option for Gerrard.
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