Kris Commons believes Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst should start picking Nathan Patterson ahead of club captain James Tavernier.

The former Celtic midfielder says he sees similarities between Patterson and Kieran Tierney, who he watched coming through the ranks at Parkhead. While Tierney eventually made the £25m switch to Arsenal, Commons says the Light Blues will only get a similar fee for Patterson if he is a regular starter:

“Ultimately, you can’t hold back talent. Eventually there has to come a point when that talent is given a platform to flourish. I read Mark Hateley’s comments over the weekend about Patterson being at a crossroads in his Rangers career, and I fully agree. He’s simply too good to spend the rest of the season – possibly longer – in the shadow of Tavernier, twiddling his thumbs on the bench.”

“I understand that Tavernier is captain and it might be a difficult conversation for Van Bronckhorst to explain to him that he’s going to be eased aside. But Rangers have to take a long-term view on this. These are two players who are at completely opposite ends of their careers.”

“Patterson is young, has the world at his feet, and has the potential to land Rangers a massive transfer fee in a few years, as Tierney did with Celtic. Tavernier on the the other hand is 30 years old. His value is limited. And there is also the fact that I believe Patterson is quite simply the better player of the two.”

Commons is right in the sense that Patterson has too much talent to be just a bit-part player with the Gers, but there is a difficult balancing act that van Bronckhorst will have to manage.

Tavernier is still a very good player, having provided 13 assists in 22 appearances so far this campaign, but he is the wrong side of 30, and it may be best to slowly reduce his game time over the next 12 to 18 months.

Whether that will satisfy Patterson, who is reportedly being pursued by the likes of Everton, Aston Villa and Manchester United, we shall have to wait and see.