Since inheriting the Best Midfielder on Earth last November Micky Beale has been on a Supermarket Sweep of midfielders.
In January Todd Cantwell and Nico Raskin were signed, in May Ryan Jack had his contract renewed with Kieran Dowell the first signing of the summer transfer window. For good measure Beale handed Ianis Hagi a contract extension in January.
Jose Cifunentes is expected to finally complete his move from Los Angeles before the weekend without the slightest hint of a new deal for Lundstram. Or interest from elsewhere.
Other than a highly out of character purple patch, in tandem with Calvin Bassey in the spring of 2022 Lundstram has been a lump of wood as one loyal bear put it on Follow Follow.
While Ajax were duped into spending £18m on Bassey the evidence of Lundstram at Sheffield United has steered other clubs away from the cumbersome midfielder.
Arriving as a free agent on a three year deal in the summer of 2021 Lundstram is believed to be on the top salary bracket at Ibrox, alongside Kemar Roofe and Cantwell.
Fortunately for the Finance Department his contract will expire at the end of this season with the concern being that he follows the examples of Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos counting down the paydays till he gets away.
Showing their usual disregard for planning Beale has managed to build up a massive squad of players with a net gain of players.
Over the next couple of days a squad of players will have to be submitted to UEFA for the Champions League qualifiers that must include four players from the Murray Park Academy and four from other Scottish clubs. Effectively just 17 non-Scots can be selected.
Allowing for six defenders, midfielders and strikers Beale will have to pick six from Cantwell, Raskin, Dowell, Hagi, Kamara, Lundstram, Tom Lawrence and Cifuentes.
A similar task is required in attack, Jack and John Souttar are the only Scottish players that count towards the quotas.
When some big names get left out of UEFA squad it isn’t going to do much for morale although as last season demonstrated as long as Kent and Morelos are getting paid they will go through the motions. Saturday’s subs bench at Kilmarnock will reveal who has fallen foul of the talkative rookie gaffer.
Back in the spring of 2021 there was virtually no other interest in Lundstram other than from Steven Gerrard, a three year contract as a free agent was ideal for the Scary Scouser.
In February Lundstram will turn 30, with no offer expected from Ibrox he is likely to be considering offers from the Championship and a return to the Saturday Tuesday routine of 46 league matches up and down England.
With his alleged mobility issues the anticipated offers might not be there with a lower paced set up such as the MLS, following Scot Arfield more realistic.
Meanwhile it looks like Lundstram will be seen more sparingly on the park in the season ahead although his impact on payroll won’t alter till June 2024.
