Rangers Star Told ‘Potential Must Be Realised’ By Boss After Loan Move | OneFootball

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Neil McCann has told Bailey Rice that his ‘potential must be realised’ after the Rangers starlet joined Kilmarnock on a loan deal.

Rice came through the Motherwell youth academy, then joined the Rangers Under-18 side in 2022, before putting pen to paper on his first professional contract in 2023.

The 19-year-old made his senior debut for the Gers in 2023, coming off the bench in the 88th minute against Livingston in the Scottish Premiership, and has made 16 appearances for the club in total.

Next season, Rice will be playing at Kilmarnock, after completing a season-long loan deal and will reunite with McCann at Rugby Park.

McCann has insisted that his ‘potential must be realised’ soon, and the real challenge for Bailey next term will be to get into the Kilmarnock first team.

The Kilmarnock boss claimed that Rice was unable to continue his progress at Ibrox under the new management, and despite not having huge game time under his belt, he will have a chance to prove himself under him.

“When we spent time at Rangers, we played him against Athletic Bilbao, and he came on against Dundee as well.

“Unfortunately, he didn’t manage to continue that progress under the new management team.

“He’s somebody that I’ve always kept an eye on and he’s got so much to offer us.

“The challenge for Bailey now is to get into our team.

“That’s a challenge I think he’s going to embrace.

“He’s got so much potential, but sooner or later, potential needs to be realised, and he’s got a chance here with us.

“He’s young with not an awful lot of game time behind him, so I’ve set him the task of getting himself to the stage where he’s pushing to get into the team.

“If he does that, he’s got the quality that can help us have a successful season.”

In the recent season, the young defensive talent made only two appearances for Rangers, seeing his chances affected due to injury.

Heading into the summer, it was claimed that Rice was ‘open to options’ over a summer move with interest from Ajax and Schalke.

The Gers have appointed Hearts manager Derek McInnes to take charge next season, and former top-flight manager Craig Levein claimed McInnes ‘knows every tick in the book’, better than any other boss in the Scottish Premiership.