Rangers have already sold Tavernier's prime spot

James Tavernier confirmed on Wednesday that he will leave Glasgow Rangers when his contract expires at the end of the current campaign.

The defender's contract will expire at the end of June and the defender has made a statement that he has decided to retire.

While it is unclear whether there is an offer on the table from the Scottish giants, Tavernier will not be at Ibrox when the 2026/27 campaign begins.

After 144 goals and 148 assists in 562 games across all competitions for the Light Blues, it's fair to say that the Englishman will go down as a true legend at the club.

Despite his impressive stats as a right-back and the prospect of winning a second Scottish Premiership title this year, it feels like the right time to part ways.

Why the time is right for James Tavernier to leave Rangers

It is the right decision for Tavernier to move on to Ibrox because his powers are waning and he is not as strong and important as he was in the 2024/25 campaign.

The 34-year-old star is no longer guaranteed to start for Rangers, as he has come off the bench eight times this season, and has as many assists as he did last season.

Tavernier has still produced moments of quality, with eight non-penalty goals from the right-back impressive, but he is not at his level.

Therefore, leaving before a decline in his game could tarnish his legacy at Ibrox seems like the right move for all parties, as it allows the captain to leave on a high note, especially if Rangers win the title this season.

Rangers have already sold James Tavernier's prime spot

Danny Rohl and the recruitment team will be looking to replace Tavernier, but the club sold the rightful heir to their throne four years ago.

In January 2022, during Giovanni van Bronckhorst's tenure, Rangers sold academy graduate Nathan Patterson to Premier League club Everton.

The Scottish defender, whose Transfermarkt value was £2.6m at the time, came through the youth set-up at Ibrox and made a club-high 27 appearances before moving south.

Patterson started two of his six appearances in the first half of the 2021/22 Premiership campaign, but was ranked in the top 90 among right-backs in the division as an attacking trooper in those minutes.

Perhaps it was his basic data that convinced Everton to sign him from the Gers, despite the fact that Tavernier was ahead of him in the process at Ibrox.

Since moving to the Toffees, Patterson has made 66 appearances in all competitions and missed 44 games through injury, which has hampered his development at the club.

Despite not breaking through as a regular starter in the English top flight, the Scotland international's value has risen to £8.7m on Transfermarkt, a 234% increase on the £2.6m he was quoted for in January 2022.

Patterson, who scored two goals for Rangers, has not reached the level he may have wanted after leaving the Gers, but it is difficult to persuade a player to want to test himself in the Premier League.

Had he stayed with the Light Blues, however, the 24-year-old star could turn into an ideal replacement for Tavernier, based on his impressive production in the first half of the 2021/22 Premiership season.

Looking at the captain's attack at right back, replacing him with a homegrown player who could create chances regularly would be a good thing for the Ibrox giants.

Unfortunately, times haven't worked out for Patterson after his first-team debut with Rangers, but you never know what can happen next and there could still be a chance he could become first-choice right-back at Ibrox at some point down the line.

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