Athletic Bilbao firefight against bonkers Rangers rumour as star man reveals rotation policy set for Ibrox

Speculation is rife ahead of the big one at Ibrox on Thursday night

Athletic Bilbao president Jon Uriarte has been forced to deny their top scorer Oihan Sancet has been bombed because of off-field issues - as Spain’s No. 1 keeper Unai Simon confirmed he WON’T play at Ibrox.

Sancet is the Basque outfit's top scorer this season with 13 goals in La Liga and one in Europe. He was out injured in February, but has been fully fit for several weeks now. However, he was an unused sub on his comeback and only played the last 27 minutes of their draw against Villarreal.

That's led to speculation that the 24-year-old hitman was being punished for off-field incidents. And now their president Uriarte has been forced to clarify matters after being quizzed on TV about Sancet's position.

He said: "There is no Sancet case. Oihan has had several injuries this season and it's a shame. Whether he plays or not is up to our manager, Ernesto Valverde.

"We have a large squad and I hope he is back in the team and back to full fitness as soon as possible. The squad is large. I hope he recovers and gets back in shape quickly.”

Manager Valverde refused to reveal whether his star man would return in Glasgow. He added: "We'll see if he plays in Glasgow or not, he has to get in little by little, if not in Scotland it will be against Rayo Vallecano."

Meanwhile, shot-stopper Simon - Spain’s keeper at Euro 2024 when they won the tournament - has confirmed he won't play at Ibrox this week in the Europa League quarter final because of Athletic Bilbao's rotation policy.

They play their back-up keeper Julen Agirrezabala in European games instead...and they won't change that even in the latter stages of the competition. Simon said: "I'm not going to play in Glasgow. European competition belongs to Julen. He'll have to be ready for anything at Ibrox because he's the one who plays in Europe.”

Simon, 27, has been Spain's keeper for both the previous World Cup and the European Championships, where he helped them beat England in the final.

However, Valverde has opted to use 24-year-old back-up Agirrezabala for nine European games this season, including in both of their games against Roma in the last round.

Last season, he played in every minute of Bilbao's Copa del Rey run and was the hero in the penalty shootout in the final against Mallorca as they claimed the trophy for the first time in 40 years.

And he will be in goal in Glasgow.