A former Rangers defender has admitted he fully expected James Tavernier to leave the Ibrox club this summer.

Alan Hutton says he 'genuinely thought he would go earlier in the window' amid strong interest in the Scottish Premiership star.

There's a little over a week left of the transfer window, with Philippe Clement certainly keen to keep hold of his captain as he aims to strengthen his squad rather than see it weakened.

Hutton insists there's no way his old side could let the right-back leave the club on the cheap now, especially with how little time there is left to do business.

“I genuinely thought that he would go earlier on in the window," the 39-year-old told BetMGM. "I thought because the rumours were circulating with interest from Turkey and Saudi, I thought at his age, it could possibly be a good move. 

“He's constantly under pressure as the Rangers captain and, to be fair to him, I think he's dealt with it really well over the years. When things go great, he gets all the plaudits, but whenever something goes wrong, he always seems to get targeted and it's a little bit unfair. 

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“He has missed part of pre-season, so it’s understandable at the start of this new campaign he has looked a little bit off the pace, but we all know what he's capable of. 

“What he gives Rangers going forward, the numbers and the stats, he is always going to be a big player for them. It'll be interesting to see what develops as there's only a couple of weeks left of the window and if he was to go, it would have to be for the right fee and Rangers must sign a replacement. 

“Rangers aren’t going to let him go cheaply or let him run his contract down. So they either have to keep him here for the long term and offer him a new deal, or make sure they get some good money for him and a capable replacement.”