‘I never wanted to come here’ – Rangers 20-year-old makes bold comment
By Harvey Byrne
Rangers youngster David Bates has boldly stated that he didn’t want to move to Glasgow to play for the club’s Under-20s, with the first team always his aim.
The 20-year-old centre-back made the switch to Ibrox last summer in a development loan from Raith Rovers.
He was then signed permanently in January 2017 with all of his appearances before then coming in the Gers’ youth ranks.
However, he was eventually handed his debut by Pedro Caixinha in a clash against Kilmarnock in April and after going on to feature eight times for the first team Bates has told that he now wants to kick on in the next campaign.
“I never wanted to come here, sign and play 20s, I wanted to push into the first team so when I got my chance I had to try and grab it with both hands,” told Bates to the official club website.
“The run I had at the end of the season was good for me personally and hopefully I can kick on from here.”
Bates will find a further battle for a first team place next season with Caixinha already adding two next centre-backs to his squad this summer.
Veteran Portugal international Bruno Alves completed a free transfer deal from Cagliari, while fellow Portuguese national Fabio Cardoso left his home country in a deal upwards of £1million.
However, with the club set to compete in the Europa League next season, which will significantly increase the fixture list, Bates may find that he is used as a rotation option.
In other Rangers news, a manager has revealed that he held talks with the Gers about this English attacker.
We’ve launched a << BREAKING NEWS FEED>> exclusively for your club. ‘Like Us’ on Facebook by clicking here if you want 24/7 updates on all Rangers breaking news.