Beale looking to academy for contributions on and off pitch

Michael Beale is looking to the Rangers academy for players to play their part on and off the park.

The Gers manager is revamping his squad this summer in a bid to turn the tables on domestic treble winners Celtic, but saleable assets are in short supply.

Rangers sold youth product Nathan Patterson to Everton in January 2022 for a reported £12million.

Midfielder Joe Aribo, brought from Charlton in 2019, was sold to Southampton last summer for a reported fee of £6million while defender and fellow Nigeria international Calvin Bassey, recruited from Leicester in 2020, joined Ajax for a fee widely reported as around £20million.

Gers boss Beale told Sky Sports Scotland that the Ibrox club need to generate more wealth while keeping results positive.

He said: “Everyone just wants you to win. I need to win and put some stability into the club, some harmony, some players in it which I feel can grow for the next two or three years here.

“That there’s a value on their head as well if they do well that we can trade and start again in terms of bringing other players in.

“If we look at the last 12 to 14 months, Nathan Patterson left the building, (as did) Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey for the outlay of which was probably under £500,000.

“For the finance that we brought in, it was great but it’s important you have a conveyor belt behind it.

“It’s important the links between me and the academy are really strong to open a pathway.

“We have had a number of academy players on the pitch this year but who’s going to stay in?

“Who’s going to be a mainstay? Who’s going to be a marquee player for Rangers?

“The fans and the outside media will just look every three to five days when you play.

“Win, lose or draw that’s how they’ll deem success. I need to win. The team need to win. My staff need to win. But we also need to make sure we build a really strong club moving forward.”