Michael Beale has denied forcing Fashion Sakala out of Rangers nearly one year on.

The former Gers manager has defended himself over the situation, insisting he wanted the Zambian forward to stay at the club.

This contradicts a statement by the player at the time, where he claimed he was pushed out of Ibrox.

Sakala joined Saudi Pro League side Al-Fayha for around £4m – a deal he alleged was done without his knowledge.

Previously speaking to the Rangers Review about the situation, Sakala claimed Beale told him personally not to attend first-team training sessions.

“He clearly showed me that I wasn’t part of his plans without telling me anything,” said the 27-year-old. “That was hard for me because I didn’t do anything.

“Players leave clubs but they are not told not to go to the training ground, not told not to be part of the team. You can have clubs that can come in for you but still, you are training with the team. I stayed without training with the club for almost two weeks.”

Read more: 

However, in a recent interview with the Mindset for Sport podcast, Beale denied this version of events, instead insisting Sakala’s departure was out of his control.

He said: “Out of those who left the only one that I really didn’t want to leave and I had any power over was Fashion Sakala, who done really well for me.

“But he had an offer to triple his wages and the club had an offer for a player they brought in for free to take the best part of £4m to go. So that was frustrating. The other guys all wanted to leave so it wasn’t like you were holding anybody back.”