George Edmundson has departed Ibrox for good after sealing a move to English League One side Ipswich Town, penning a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

'The Fridge' as he was affectionately known, is expected to be one of a number of departures between now and the closure of the summer transfer window.

His exit comes as no surprise given the calibre of player he was expected to compete against for a starting berth.

The 23-year-old was signed as a project player when Rangers paid Oldham Athletic £650,000 for his services two years ago but his development hasn't grown with Rangers in that space of time, hence an inevitable move.

Edmundson fitted the bill in the summer of 2019.

Rangers were shopping in the lower leagues of England trying to sniff out players with growth potential and a bargain. Understandably Edmundson appeared on their radar given he was named in the League Two Team of the Season for 2019/20.

He would go on to make 17 appearances in his first term with Steven Gerrard's men but, more often than not, was a bit-part player as the Goldson-Katic and Goldson-Helander partnerships were preferred.

Last season he found first-team opportunities even harder to come by and was offloaded to Derby County for the second half of the campaign.

He'll be fondly remembered for his display alongside Goldson in Braga as Rangers completed the miraculous comeback to reach the last-16 of the Europa League. He would score in the 3-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen at Ibrox.

But he didn't ever cement his place in that backline.

There is the argument that centre-halves take a little longer to mature and reach their true potential, but Rangers simply don't have time for that anymore.

They've reached a level now where they plan on competing in the Champions League against the best teams on the planet, unfortunately for Edmundson, he was unlikely to ever sample that.

In time he may very well, reach that level, but for now, he's a League One footballer and Rangers are shopping in more glamorous  markets.

The summer arrivals of Fashion Sakala and John Lundstram give an indication of the type of players now being targeted.

READ MORE: Rangers' Fashion Sakala's performance against Real Madrid analysed

The Ibrox side are back competing with English Premier League clubs for talent with much of that is down to Steven Gerrard. Even Edmundson alluded to as much in his interview with the Ipswich Town website earlier today when describing his initial move to Ibrox: 

"It was massive, obviously with Gerrard as manager there," he said.

As well as the manager, Rangers are now able to offer the carrot of potential Champions League football and playing in a team packed with internationalists at the top of their game.

Of course, off-field issues certainly didn't help Edmundson in trying to establish himself as a Ranger. His suspension, alongside Jordan Jones, last November for coronavirus breaches, suggested he hadn't yet reached that level of maturity the manager demands.

But he goes to Portman Road with the best wishes of the club and supporters alike, he's not the first and he won't be the last young player to be given an opportunity to play for the biggest club in Scotland and find the standard a touch lofty.

Career-wise, as much as he'll probably never play for a club as big as Rangers again, he admitted he has to play football matches, telling the Ipswich Town website: "I'm 23 now, I need to play football and when the opportunity came along to work with a manager like Paul Cook, it's an opportunity I couldn't turn down."

Having known Paul Cook from his time at Wigan, you would expect his overall game to improve.  He has a great track record in snapping up players for a pittance and selling them on for a profit and it wouldn't be a surprise to see Edmundson excelling there.

He joins the likes of Jamie Barjonas and Greg Stewart in heading off for pastures new. There will undoubtedly be more as Rangers will look to streamline what is a big squad but this departure is the latest indication of the increased standards the football club now demand.