Derby County January arrival George Edmundson will be moved on by parent club Rangers in the summer, according to former Scotland international Frank McAvennie

The 23-year-old joined the Rams as part of a flurry of loan signings on the final day of the winter transfer window, with Wayne Rooney looking to bolster his squad and boost their survival hopes.

Edmundson seems to have fallen out of favour completely under Steven Gerrard and has featured just once for the Gers in the 2020/21 campaign, but it seems he will get a fresh start at Pride Park.

The centre-back's contract with the Scottish club is set to run until 2023 but, speaking to Football Insider, McAvennie has claimed he will leave Ibrox permanently in the summer.

Pressed on whether the fact that Jack Simpson has been given Edmundson's Rangers squad number was a concern, he said: "I would think so.

“You never keep your squad number anyway when you go out on loan so I wouldn’t look too much into that.

“I don’t think he’ll get back in to be honest, they’ll be moving him on and especially after winning the league they’ll be looking for a bit more quality.”

According to The Athletic's Jordan Campbell, the loan deal that brought Edmundson to Derby does not include an option to buy, meaning if the East Midlands club want to land him permanently they will have to re-negotiate with Rangers in the summer.

A product of the Oldham academy, the central defender left the Latics to move north of the border in July 2019.

The Verdict

It's hard to disagree with McAvennie on this one.

Injuries and an SFA ban haven't helped but Edmundson has struggled to make an impact since joining Rangers, so the Scottish club may well look to cut their losses this summer.

That could be a boost for Derby, who will surely be well set to strike a deal should he settle well at Pride Park. In that sense, this is an encouraging prediction for the Rams.