Ex Rangers ace unemployed after release from EFL club as he name-drops two former Ibrox stars he learned most from

An ex-Rangers fringe player has began his search for a new club for the first time five years after being released by EFL Championship side Stoke City.

Midfielder Jordan Thompson - who had a three-year spell at Ibrox - joined the Potters back in January 2020 and went on to make over 150 appearances for the club.

The 28-year-old was part of the mini 2015 summer transfer window revolution at Rangers following Mark Warburton’s appointment as manager after failing to earn promotion from the Championship the previous season.

Warburton’s arrival heralded the start of a significant turnover of players with the likes of Martyn Waghorn, Wes Foderingham, Andy Halliday and current skipper James Tavernier among an influx of new signings. Belfast-born Thompson also checked in at the time, aged just 18 after leaving Manchester United where he had spent a lengthy period of time in the club’s youth academy.

The Northern Ireland international failed to make a first-team breakthrough at Old Trafford and struggled to make much of an impact in Govan, spending much of his time out on loan in the lower leagues with Airdrieonians, Raith Rovers and Livingston.

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Restricted to just two senior appearances in his first season at Rangers, Thompson was unable to force his way into Warburton’s plans and was eventually released at the end of the 2017/18 campaign. He returned down south that summer after signing for Blackpool and found regular first-team football at Bloomfield Road.

Thompson was on the move again 18 months later after being snapped up by Stoke and became the club’s longest-serving player over the next five-and-a-half year. However, his name has been added to the list of players who will head for the exit door at the end of the season.

Despite his ill-fated spell at Rangers, the 39-capped international remains a big supporter of the club after kitting out his son Crue in a Rangers baby grow after he was born. Thompson also named Kenny Miller and Lee Wallace as the two players he learned most from during his time at Ibrox.