Nikola Katic airbrushes out Rangers as James Sands has his number

The Croatian vacated the No. 19 shirt when he moved on loan to Hajduk Split and now it's gone to the new boy.

Rangers fans were delighted at the sight of James Sands being paraded at Ibrox with the No. 19 jersey as Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s first signing.

But one man could have been forgiven for getting shirty at the American being handed that particular number.

That could be behind the defender's decision to wipe out his Instagram account just hours after the capture of Sands was announced.

And a source close to the player told Record Sport Online: “Ask yourself this. Would you happy if you were in his shoes?”

It’s only three months since Niko Katic gave up the number he was handed when he first arrived at the Light Blues in the summer of 2018.

The defender moved on loan to Hajduk Split during the last transfer window with the 25-year-old in desperate need of game time after a season wrecked by injury.

Then boss Steven Gerrard was adamant it wasn’t the end of the road for Katic at Rangers, saying: “In terms of people putting saying his future is done here, that is wide of the mark.

“He has had a serious injury and it is about getting him the games and getting back up to speed after that level of injury.“

But seeing his shirt handed to Sands is unlikely to have filled the defender with confidence over the possibility of a Govan return.

There have been calls from fans for Katic to have been recalled at points this season due to defensive issues - both injuries and a dip in form from the likes of Connor Goldson in the early part of the campaign.

Versatile Sands, though, can play in the centre of defence and Rangers have also been linked with Hearts stopper John Souttar.

Hajduk Split have an option to buy the defender for £3 million and but he is set to stay in Croatia where he scored an own goal in a 3-3 draw with NK Lokomotiva Zagreb last month in his 13th outing this season.