£3.5m star drops Rangers transfer eye opener as he speaks his truth over 'unexpected' Ibrox decision

Sam Lammers claims he didn't have to leave Rangers in the January transfer window.

The forward struggled to adapt to life at the Ibrox club after joining from Serie A side Atalanta last summer. Michael Beale wanted him to be part of his Light Blues plans and the club snapped him up for a reported fee of £3.5m.

He scored two goals in 31 games before being shipped out on loan to his native Netherlands with FC Utrecht. Now in an interview with Voetbal, Lammers has admitted to being left surprised by the decision to loan him out.

The 26-year-old said: “(An Ibrox exit) was unexpected, after a period with a lot of playing time. I had signed a four-year a contract in Scotland with the intention of staying in the same place for a long time.  

"I didn’t have to leave either. FC Utrecht registered (their interest) and immediately took action. That played a role in my choice last month.

"The decisive action, the positive conversations with Jordy Zuidam (technical director) and Ron Jans (head coach), the confidence I felt, the club as a whole, my ambition to continue playing full matches every week... It became a nice package."

Lammers fell out of favour under Philippe Clement, who has plenty of firepower at his disposal. He brought in Fabio Silva and Oscar Cortes during the January transfer window to supplement his other stars.

Danilo and Kemar Roofe are currently injured, but he can still call upon Cyriel Dessers, Rabbi Matondo, Scott Wright and Ross McCausland in forward areas. Mohamed Diomande, Tom Lawrence and Todd Cantwell can also play in advanced positions.