Rangers face battle to keep hold of teenage star Bailey Rice

Bailey Rice is attracting interest
Bailey Rice is attracting interest / Ian MacNicol/GettyImages
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Rangers midfield starlet Bailey Rice is being watched closely by some of Europe’s biggest clubs, sources have confirmed to 90min.

The 16-year-old has already been handed his first team debut by Michael Beale, who returned to the club as manager in November after previously serving as an assistant to Steven Gerrard.

Beale is understood to be a huge fan of the defensive midfielder, and while he is no relation to West Ham and England star Declan, many believe that he could prove to be equally as important for Scotland in the years to come.

Rice made his debut against Livingston last month just 24 hours after captaining Scotland's Under-17s against Switzerland, and 90min understands that a host of big-name clubs are showing interest in luring him away from Ibrox.

Real Madrid, Monaco and Porto are all keeping close tabs, sources have confirmed to 90min, while Bundesliga trio Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen are also watching him.


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Manchester City, who showed interest in Rice before he joined Rangers, are also keen, as are Manchester United and Newcastle.

Rangers, however, will not let Rice, who only joined the club in June 2022 after rejecting the chance to sign professional terms with Motherwell, leave without a fight.

Indeed, he has shown outstanding progress in training and at youth level, which prompted Beale to include him in Rangers' first team plans and make him the youngest player to ever feature in a league game for the club.


On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott SaundersGraeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth discuss Man Utd's transfer needs & strategy for this summer, Tottenham's interest in Emi Martinez, Liverpool scouting two rising Benfica stars & more.

If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!