Rangers break silence on 'integral' James Tavernier transfer saga as signing stance made after Man Utd defeat

Rangers assistant coach Alex Rae says there is "nothing to report" on the ongoing James Tavernier transfer saga after the club's skipper was not present for Saturday's 2-0 friendly defeat by Manchester United.

Tavernier was subject of a failed bid from Trabzonspor on Thursday night, although the Turkish Super Lig outfit are expected to return with an improved offer. The future of 32-year-old, who has been with Rangers for nine seasons, has been under constant speculation for some months now, with reports claiming that the right-back is willing to end his long association with the Ibrox outfit.

Rangers have maintained that Tavernier is nursing a slight injury and in the absence of manager Philippe Clement, who had to leave Murrayfield on full-time to attend a wedding, it was left to Rae to address the media in the aftermath of the Man Utd defeat.

When quizzed specifically on Tavernier, Rae replied: “I have no idea. I don’t even know what the bid is. That is above my pay grade. There has been speculation throughout the course of Tavernier’s time here. He has been linked many times, there have been lots of rumours. We just deal with it as it happens. There is nothing to report as such.

Trabzonspor want to sign Rangers captain James Tavernier. | SNS Group

“Listen, Tav is an integral part of what we do here and hopefully that continues. For me his being at this club is vital. He has been an integral part over recent years, I think 20-odd goals last year, so we will wait and see what happens – on all of them.”

When asked how Tavernier should be remembered if he leaves, Rae added: “I am here to talk about the game today. It is not really fair on me to say. You are talking about him as if he has left, he is still very much part of the squad. Tav's been about the place."

Rae was pleased with the run-out against Man Utd, who brought a number of senior players to Edinburgh. “It was a really good challenge against some quality players and from our point of view a lot of the boys, especially the starting eleven, managed to get minutes against quality opposition. As the game wore on I thought we created a couple of chances and when you reflect back on it, they were clinical with the couple of chances they got. So another good workout.

Philippe Clement made a quick exit after the full-time whistle | SNS Group

"We have more minutes. The guys who came on will play a large part against Birmingham. That was the plan and then we focus on Berlin at the weekend. Everything is scheduled and on course. The plus point is no injuries, which is a bonus."

Rae refused to be drawn on what areas of the team need strengthened ahead of the season opener against Hearts in two weeks time - but reiterated Clement's position that players will need to be sold before signings are made. "I think there's a couple of areas where we'd like to bring players in, but as the manager has said, I think we have to get some players going out first and foremost," added Rae. "And again, that'll reflect on who goes out the door. Until we get that, we'll have to prioritise when who actually leaves."